The Refugee
by Pernshinigami
Summary: Yuri Warning Feralae's father gives her a mysterious blue box. Can Cassie and Rachel warn Feralae before Visser Three get's her father? And can the Animorphs save a group of Ketran refugees from the yeerks?
1. Default Chapter

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The Refugee

By Nyassa Kaiba

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Prologue

My name is Feralae. It's Latin. It means wild wings. Nice name isn't it? I think so. I mean, how many kids know the meaning of their names? Kirin means Giraffe and Rachel means sheep. Aleser means lion and Ishtar is the name of the Babylonian Goddess of love and war. But how many kids know these things? Not many. 

My gene pool is incredibly unusual. My father is an Irish orphan raised by the Navajo. My mother is Japanese American. My dad is a blacksmith during the summer and a weaver during the winter. My mother was Head Zoologist in an Animal Park in San Diego. We raise horses and sheep. We have dogs and we're all falconers. 

But you'll notice that I'm not giving details. I can't, because if I told you where I currently live, I'd end up dead, or worse. What am I in, the witness protection program? Ha ha ha. But it would be too dangerous. I may have nothing to fear, but there are others who would get into trouble. So I can't tell you my last name or where I am as I write this. 

Anyway, when my story started we were putting everything together in the new/old house. It used to be my grandfather's house. But when my grandfather died and my grandmother didn't want to leave the shrine in Japan where she lived and worked as a miko (a Shintoist priestess,) we got the house. Just in time. My mother was laid off and accepted a position at the Gardens. 

The next door neighbors had come to greet us. I heard their voices mingling down below in the Garden. They had a girl about my age named Cassie. I hoped that 'Cassie' was pretty. For me the move could not have been more ill timed. I was just about to tell my friend Duel how I felt about her before we left. I left somebody that I cared about behind, and I didn't want to tell my parents that I'm a lesbian, so I couldn't raise protest to the move. 

I heard mom say to Cassie's father. "Well Walter, I do hope that they get along. My daughter is a superb falconer. Her harris hawk, Escalade is very sleek and shiny from her care." 

"In fact, why don't you come up and introduce yourself Cassie." Dad said with a smile. 

"Sure." I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. There was a knock. "Feralae, the neighbors are here. May we come in?" 

"I suppose." I was listening to Switchfoot, "Meant to Live" and blazing my way through a pokemon contest on my pokemon ruby version. Dad opened the door and Cassie came in. 

I looked her over. Cassie was black and beautiful. She had short hair in cornrows and beautiful dark eyes. Too many beautifuls in the space of two sentences. I shook my head, trying to get the hormones out of it. "Hi! I'm Feralae, it means Wild Wings." 

"Cool, I wish my name meant something." Cassie sat down in the desk chair. "I heard that you're a falconer."

"Yeah, not as good as my dad. Both me, my mom, and my dad are falconers. My dad has a golden eagle named Lexus. My mom has a Peregrine Falcon named Cadillac. And my Harris hawk is named Escalade." 

Cassie chuckled. "You named them after cars right? That's so cute!" 

I grinned foolishly. My doberman, Jag (short for Jaguar,) nosed open the door. "And there's my dog Jaguar. We call him Jag, my mother raises Great Danes and my dad has border collies. We name all of our personal animals after cars. The horses that my mom raises don't. She wants to make a new breed of warm blood horses."

"That's cool." Cassie said with a warm smile. "My mom is the head veterinarian at the Gardens and my Dad runs a wild life rehabilitation clinic."

"My dad raises sheep and llamas for their wool. He weaves during the winter and he's a blacksmith during the summer. He makes such cool stuff." I picked up a gargoyle from the desk. "Like this thing for example." I handed it to her. 

The gargoyle had been created to guard my desk. It had three forward raked horns and a slightly serpentine head. The creature had blades sticking out of its wrists and elbows. It had wings and two spikes on it's long tail. "It's a gargoyle." I explained. "My dad made it for me for my tenth birthday. I love to draw some of the things that he makes." 

Cassie ran a finger over the blades curiously. That was odd, I had expected an "oh wow!" not the expression on her face, as if I had mentioned something forbidden. Her eyes narrowed as she looked into the red glass that my father had used for eyes. "Cool." She said, after a long silence before setting it down on the desk. 

"Anyway." I was losing the appeals round of the pokemon contest. "Aw man! I lost the first round of the appeals!" 

"That's a really interesting sculpture." Cassie said with a wane smile. "What else does your dad make?" 

I dug through the boxes for my latest sketchbook. "Here." I handed her the sketch-book. "This one's a dragon. And this one's a centaur." I pointed to the two most recent sketches. The dragon had a similar blade design, only no wrist blades and bigger wings. The centaur didn't have a horse's tail. Instead it had a long tail like a bullwhip and a pair of blades, one on each side. "And this one's a sword, dagger and hunting knife set that he made for me. And this one's one of those bladed spears that you see in Anime. And this one's..." But Cassie was looking more closely at the sketches of the dragon and the centaur. "Oh, you like the sculptures too? My dad makes extra money by making sculptures for buildings and stuff. They sell for thousands of dollars each." 

Cassie handed the sketchbook back with a shrug. "Do you ride?" She asked. 

"Yeah, how about we go riding tomorrow afternoon, after school, since there's only a week left." I suggested. "You can introduce me to your home-girls." 

Cassie smiled. "Sure!" She got up to go. 

I turned up the stereo as she left. _"We were meant to live for so much more, have we lost ourselves, somewhere we live inside, somewhere we live inside. We were meant to live for so much more, have we lost ourselves? Somewhere we live inside!"_ I sang along with the words, not realizing that I'd soon be proved right. 

That evening, after dinner, my mother and father came up to my room. "Had a good day Ferealae?" He asked. 

"Yup! I had an excellent day." My things were all unpacked. My room was nice and neat. 

"That's good... Feralae?" Dad opened a small box. Inside of the box were packing peanuts and another box, sky blue in color and about 6x6x6 in dimensions. "I came upstairs to give you this. This box is very special and very rare. Whatever happens you can't give it up to anybody, got that?" He asked. "It's been in the family for four generations. I want to show you something." He looked over at mom. 

Mother nodded. "This box gives people the power to turn into any animal who's DNA they could acquire through touch." She beckoned to Jag. The dog came over, holding out his paw for a shake. Mom took it and closed her eyes for a moment. 

"You're kidding right? Or is this some kind of ancient Navajo legend or something?" I asked, skeptically. 

"I'm not kidding." Dad said calmly. "Watch your mother." 

Mom closed her eyes and focused. Her hair disappeared, replaced with black and gold fur. Her ears slid up the side of her head and became floppy. Dobermen normally had ears that were floppy. Breeders trimmed them when they reached the right age. Her fingers shortened and the nails turned black. Her knees reversed with a crunch and her legs lengthened, the direction the joints turned changed. A tail sprouted out of her butt like a weed. Mom began to shrink to Jag's size. 

Jag was going nuts. He howled and ran from the room, paws scrabbling on the kitchen linoleum downstairs. I heard him shove the doggie door out. 

Mom laughed… only it wasn't out loud, it was in my head. "I… I hear you in my head! I've gotta be dreaming!" 

"It's not a dream Feralae." Dad said with a small smile. "It's made possible with that box. You see why we don't want anybody to get it."

"Damn right you don't!" I shivered. "And this is real?" I demanded. 

Yes it is. Mom answered. Please, don't tell anyone that I can do this. We're not even supposed to have the box, and there are people who would do anything to have it, including kill you and I.

"There's a time limit on this morphing technology as well." Dad explained. "After two hours in any morph you would stay in that morph forever. It's extremely dangerous."

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, looking from mom, to dad, to mom again as she began to change back. 

"Because you have a choice to make. Only you can make it. Do you want to morph?" Dad asked. "I'm not able to, I can't help you with this decision. And there may come a time when… when you will have to be strong, because I can't be…." He said looking down at his shoes. "Because I can't morph, and you can, you will become a target like your mother may become." 

I closed my eyes, trying to picture what sort of person I'd become a target to. The image wasn't good. All I could picture were Feds, FBI agents, CIA, or NSA Not nice, but the ability to become an animal, any animal? That was amazing! And I could always morph a dragonfly or a butterfly or something and escape!

"I'll think about it dad." I said with a smile. "I'll think about it." 

I hid the box in the cabinet under my bed. Then I closed my eyes and looked over at the altar in my room. On it stood the three holy symbols of the Japanese Gods. The copper mirror, the sword, and the jewels. They represented the three major Kami of Shintoism, Susonoo; God of Warriors and Storms, Amateratsu; Goddess of the Sun and of Artisans, and Tsuki-Yomi, God of the Moon and the Stars. I looked into the mirror and I said, "Goddess, what would you do? Would you protect the people you cared about? Would I take the risk of being trapped or captured? Would I?"

The Goddess didn't answer, but the shimmering butterfly on the rose vine outside flapped its wings, fluttering off into the night…


	2. Confide in Me, I'm your friend!

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The Refugee

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Chapter 1- Cassie

Rachel and I met Feralae at her locker during fifth period. "Hi!" I said cheerfully. 

"Oh! Cassie! Hi!" Feralae said with a pleasant smile. "I wanted to talk to you about something." Then she blushed shyly. "Who's your friend?" 

"I'm Rachel. Who do you have next?" Rachel asked, holding out her schedule. "I have gym, lunch, and Mr. Tidwell for English." 

"So do I. What do you know? We're in the same class!" Feralae said cheerfully. 

We were making our way to the gym. Inside, Marco was singing kareoke. Jake was shooting hoops against the basketball team captain. Somebody in the crowd around Marco muttered, "Fagot." Feralae stomped on his foot, pretending that it was an accident. "OW!" The boy hissed. 

"Oh so sorry, I didn't see where I was going there." Feralae said with a sneer. "But you know, you should watch your language. You never know how people will react to what you say." She giggled maliciously as she walked away. "If there's two words that piss me off the most, they're 'Fagot' and 'Dyke.'" Feralae explained as she followed us to the bleachers. 

"Yeah, but Gay people are so gross!" Rachel exclaimed. 

Feralae turned an icy stare on Rachel. "What makes you think that? It could be your children when you grow up Rachel. And no child wants to be told that they're disgusting. I've heard of gay youth hanging themselves because the people that they cared about, that they trusted turned against them. In my opinion there is no excuse for intolerance." 

"I suppose." Rachel relented, but I could tell that she didn't entirely agree.

"Look." Feralae led us to the highest bleacher, furthest away from the door. She dug through her backpack. "What do you guys make of this?" She asked.

I almost fainted. The object she pulled out of her backpack was a small, sky blue cube, about six by six by six inches. It seemed harmless enough. 

But I knew that it was a morphing cube. I knew what it represented. That cube represented the most dangerous power on the planet. I was speechless. 

Rachel answered for me. "What is it?" She asked. "Where did you get it?" 

"I'm not really sure what it is." Feralae explained. "It belonged to my father. He said that it's been in my family for four generations. It's part of some weird ritual that happens when each member of my family turns fifteen. I'm not really sure what it's about, but my Dad also asked me to take on a lot of responsibility. Stuff that I'm not sure that I'm ready for. It's pretty odd. When I asked him why I'd need it, why I should take part in the ritual, he answered that, 'You have to be strong, because I cannot be.' But that's bull isn't it? I mean, he's a blacksmith, he even does a little bit of glass blowing so that he can add eyes to his sculptures. I've tried, and the best I can manage is pumping the bellows and melting the glass. There's no way that he can't be strong." 

I realized what she was getting at. Her father was asking her to take on the morphing power. He knew that either the yeerks were here, or guessed that they were coming. For some reason or another Feralae's father could not morph. He wanted Feralae to morph and fight the yeerks. He was trying to get her ready. He was trying to possibly save his daughter by preparing her for the battle against the yeerks. Feralae was disturbed out by the whole thing and wanted to be reassured. 

"I'm sure it will be alright Feralae." I said with a smile. "It will be fine. Your father is giving you a chance to grow. He cares about you and doesn't want you to go out into the world unprepared." I said with a smile. "I know that my dad wouldn't let me go out into the world unprepared."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Feralae said with an introspective smile. 

"And what have we here?" Asked Mr. Chapman. 

I gulped. "Hi Mr. Chapman. Feralae was just showing off something that her dad gave her." I said meekly. 

"I see." His eyes turned on the blue box. I saw surprise on his face, then hatred. "What exactly is it?" 

"We're not sure sir!" Rachel said quickly. "We were trying to figure it out, but so far, no luck." 

"Well then, this is gym class, put it away. I don't want to see it again, or I'll take it. You know you shouldn't bring valuable belongings to school." Chapman chided. 

"That was WAY too close." Rachel said with an exaggerated sigh. 

~The Barn~

"SHE WHAT?!!" Was the collective cry. 

Prince Jake I do not think… 

"This is easily the most insane…" 

She has a pet golden eagle named Lexus? Marco that is what's… 

"Her father gave her a blue box?" Jake asked. "I'm more worried about what Chapman will tell Visser three." 

We all looked at Jake in horror. "I don't even want to think about that." I said with a shiver. 

We must think about it unfortunately. Ax said with a sigh. If the yeerks get the box, then as Marco would say, 'We can kiss Earth goodbye.'

There was silence. Jake if you like I can keep an eye on her. Tobias said slowly. 

"And mom and I are going to be working with Feralae and her mother at the Gardens this afternoon." I said with a smile. "Me and Tobias, and I'll bet that the rest of us could find a way in today." 

I was hoping to acquire a new morph. Ax said calmly. The hork bajir have been having problems with wolves and a mountain lion. I was going to see if I could acquire them before chasing them away. 

"Go ahead Ax. We all have wolf morphs except for Tobias. This new crisis may keep us busy awhile." Jake said darkly. 

Ax turned and left the barn. Tobias made a hasty exit to get a good head start. They had barely made it out when my mother came in. "Cassie, are you ready to go? Oh, Rachel, Jake, Maro welcome. Would you like to come along? We've set up new seats in the truck, along with that new cap. There's plenty of room and I'd get you into the Gardens free." 

"Thanks." Marco and Jake chorused. 

  
"I'd love to." Rachel said with a smile. "I wouldn't mind doing some shopping for Sarah's birthday. I think they have some pretty good toys for a six year old." 

As soon as we set out Jake sighed. "Well, that was easier than we thought." He said, relieved. 

"When things are easy I worry." Marco stated. 

**__**

~Feralae~

Mom discovered that the white lion in the zoo was starting to show signs of liver failure. A white lion is incredibly rare, and all the known specimens were in zoos. I had decided that afternoon to accept the power to morph. It was an incredible chance. Cassie and I followed our mothers to the operating room. "Cassie, get the IV. Kirin, get the tools sterilized, hurry! I'll inform the vet staff." Cassie's mother started rapping out orders. 

By some odd serendipity, I was alone in the room with the lion. "Poor boy." I said softly as I stroked his fur. The lion looked at me with the saddest eyes. I saw worlds in them. His eyes fluttered closed as I acquired his DNA. "I'm so sorry." I said, stroking his fur. 

The lion blinked, as if to say, 'So am I.' But lions can't speak of course, so the lion was probably just sad, pained. Poor thing. But the genes of this huge cat were so rare that the usual practice of putting an animal down was out of the question. I had done some research on lions. The average lion was about four feet long, two and a half to three feet at the shoulder and about four hundred pounds. This guy was more like five feet long, four feet at the shoulder, and about five hundred pounds. 

Cassie came back with the IV at this moment. "Can you help me with this?" Cassie asked as she pulled the machine into the room. 

"Sure." I pulled away from the lion. "Cassie I've been thinking about this guy. They aren't going to… to put him down are they? I mean, the only white lions in existence live in zoos. This guy's genes are incredibly rare, and considering his size the gene pool of the lions as a species could really benefit from this guy's DNA."

"He won't be put down if mom can help it." Cassie assured me. "And for really rare animals the Gardens keeps a sperm bank. This guy's sperm will stay alive for up to a week. He'll pass on his genes. But I'm pretty sure that…" Cassie broke off. 

"You think that this guy will die?" I asked. 

Cassie forced a smile. "Not if my mom can help it." She said cheerfully. 

"That's the spirit Cassie!" Mom said as she came in. "Now listen, your mother and I need somebody to feed the animals for us. You know more about the care of big animals. Why don't you show Feralae the ropes." 

And a bunch of big morphs, I thought to myself. 

"Okay then, come with me!" Cassie grinned. 

I was amazed at Cassie's knowledge of animals as she breezed me through the preparation. Mother had been planning to teach me how to morph with a gorilla morph. But I had wanted to morph a big cat. Now I had my big cat, but I'd keep it a secret, for one of those times when I 'Had to be strong.' I acquired an elephant that reached down for peanuts. Then a grateful grizzly bear. I acquired a hyena and a rhino too. Then we made it to the orca whale, Swoosh. I was carrying a pail of fish out for the orca when I heard somebody shout, "CASSIE!" 

A tall, muscular boy with brown hair and eyes called from across the arena where Swoosh lived and performed. "HI JAKE!!" Cassie called. 

We had changed into wet suits. Cassie dove into the water and swam over to the edge of the tank. She hung onto the edge and tread water. I lured Swoosh over to the edge of the tank. Swoosh loved the fish and he loved being pet. Acquiring him wasn't a problem at all. As I fed I listened. 

"Any signs?" Jake asked in a low voice. 

"None at all Jake. I don't think there's going to be a problem, but if she's…" 

Swoosh, being the playful Orca that he was, sprayed water in my face. I let out a screech. "CASSIEEEE!!!" I squealed. 

"Whoops, I should have warned you, he tends to do that. It's Swoosh's way of saying thank you." Cassie giggled. 

I flushed. "You're welcome big guy." I said. 

Swoosh opened his mouth and gurgled. 

Cassie whispered something to Jake. Jake nodded. "Well, see you later then." 

We had made it to the dolphin tank when Cassie's mother came in, looking sad. "You guys, the lion died. Feralae, your mother is taking a sperm count for the breeding program. It's going into the freezers so that we can breed new genetic material in, but…" 

Cassie's eyes filled with tears. "Mom…" She wrapped her arms around her mother's waist and burst into tears. 

"Yeah, I know. Leroy died." 

"Leroy?" I asked, still trying to absorb the realization. 

"His full name was Leroy Brown." Cassie's mother explained. "Like the song?" 

A lion had died? I shivered, looking down at my palms. It was a rather curious sensation, as I realized that the beautiful lion that had been alive a matter of minutes before now existed only as a few strands of DNA in my blood stream. 


	3. The break in Be Careful!

The Refugee Chapter 2- Cassie 

Mom offered to drive Feralae home, since her mother had taken the motorcycle and sidecar to work. Yes, you heard right, a motor cycle. While the family had a Cadillac Escalade and a Ford Explorer, both of her parents had a motorcycle, because they considered them faster. In addition, Feralae's mother, Kirin, had more work to do at the labs to prepare the lion's semen for artificial insemination. 

Yup, it was almost funny. We were Animorphs, sitting in the car with a would be Animorph. She didn't know that we had the same power she did. She didn't know that she had the same power we did. Are you confused yet? I know I am. Marco is probably going to laugh about it later. 

But what we found when we came home wasn't funny. Feralae's father had taken the sheep and horses out to the far pasture to graze. That was probably the only thing that saved him. There was no answer as we opened the door. 

"They're not home." Feralae shrugged. "Dad's probably out in the fields. He said he was going to bring the sheep out to the far pasture to...day..." She broke off. 

The door had been ripped off of its hinges. I saw claw marks on the wood, the marks of hork bajir. I turned to Jake. 

He nodded, he'd seen them too. 

"Oh my God..." Mom exclaimed. 

We walked into the house to find it a wreck. The living room, the kitchen, the bathrooms, even the bedrooms were torn up. Still unpacked boxes in the attic had been ripped open and upended. The couch had been slashed, but close examination revealed more hork bajir marks. 

Rachel bristled. I saw her teeth making a soft snarl. She had recognized the marks of hork bajir blades and claws as well. Marco shivered. 

"I'm going to call the police. You children stay here." 

I was probably the only one who heard... "THE BOX!" Feralae hissed. "They came for the box." 

"You mean that box that your dad gave you?" Rachel asked. 

"Yeah that one." Feralae said with a shrug. "I still had it in my backpack. My grandmother always said that you should keep your most valuable items on your person, and not leave them out." 

Jake sighed in relief. "Jake." Marco whispered. "If they came once, they might come again." 

Jake nodded. "We'll have Tobias keep a seven twenty four on the place for a couple of weeks. We need to if Ax is going to finish with the hork bajir up in the mountains." 

"And who would be our messenger?" Marco hissed. "Cassie can't hold off a bunch of hork bajir on her own. It takes at least two of us. If Cassie and Tobias are engaged who goes for help?" 

"One thing at a time." Jake answered. 

My mom came back in. "Okay, Feralae, I called your mother, and the police. Your father was up in the mountains with the horses, llamas and sheep. He said that he's all right. Whoever it was didn't pursue him there. Your mother says to come with us for the night, just to be safe." 

After about three minutes I heard sirens begin to wail. Feralae packed a bag went out to the barns. She came back with a Doberman, a Border Collie, and a Great Dane. A Harris Hawk stood on her gloved hand. "Okay, I'm ready. Dad took the other two falcons with him up to the mountains." 

Jake and Marco, meanwhile made a quick assessment of the damage. None of the statues or swords that were in Feralae's father's shop had been damaged, although one of the tapestries had been ripped, and the loom had been shoved over. No problems there. The barn had been searched, but most of the stock was up top. Some of the Dane's Puppies had been roughed up, but they were all right. 

The truck was crowded as we headed back. I heard Tobias mutter somewhere up top. Golden Eagle named Lexus, I'll Lexus his butt. A Golden Eagle for a pet. What kind of family keeps a Golden Eagle? A psycho family that's what. 

I saw Marco smirk as he heard that. Jake rolled his eyes. Rachel chuckled softly. I looked over at Feralae. "Feralae, those marks on the porch and the door frame looked like animal marks, don't you think?" 

"I wonder what kind of animal made them." Feralae said thoughtfully. "I mean, maybe it was a grizzly. Whatever it was stood upright, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to tear the door off of it's hinges." 

"Yeah." Jake said, tired. "Maybe it was a grizzly bear." 

"Weird though, all of our food was locked up…" Feralae said thoughtfully. "I know." She snapped her fingers. "Maybe it was a rabid grizzly bear." 

"Yeah, maybe." Rachel shrugged. "Don't worry about it. If it was a grizzly bear they'll stop it. And if it really was a break in the police will find out who it was." 

It was a lie of course. Controller cops were probably all over the place by now. They'd fix the damage and cover up the evidence and in a few days another attack would come. We had a few days to decide what to do with Feralae and her blue box, before the yeerks regrouped for another attack. I felt sick. I remembered David and his reaction to being in hiding. 

I shivered. I led Feralae into the house to set down her things. Then we went to the barn to set up the dogs and the Harris Hawk in the barn. Feralae sat on a bale of hay, stroking her Harris Hawk thoughtfully. The hawk seemed to like her a lot. It's eyes closed in pleasure at being stroked. "Feralae," Dad said before he left. "I'll pay you to muck out the stalls and groom and exercise the horses." 

"Great." Feralae said with a smile as she put her Harris Hawk in one of the cages. "How much are you paying?" 

They negotiated a price for the work as they left. Jake looked at me before he left. "I think we should acquire some of her pets." 

I nodded, whistling for the Border Collie. The dog didn't mind being acquired, nor did the Harris Hawk. "I think that does it." I told Jake. "Care to acquire the Harris Hawk?" 

"I wouldn't mind at all. Tobias told me that they're superb flyers, almost as agile as a falcon, but with stronger wings." Jake said, as he aquired the hawk. 

"Well then, let's just keep our eyes open." I said with a smile. 

That night, Feralae borrowed a sleeping bag. "Cassie?" She asked. "Are you awake?" 

"Yeah." I answered. 

"Those people who broke in, they came for the box right? That's what they were after?"

"Why are you asking me?" I asked. Did she suspect.

"I don't know." She said with a sigh. "I'm just worried. Whatever came after that box was big, HUGE. I mean, if it came after me, I'd be dead really fast wouldn't I?" 

"I don't know." I lied. "Just be careful okay?"

"Okay, I will."


	4. Fight and Flight

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The Refugee

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Chapter 3- Feralae

The next day I got to go home. The police had helped us put things back together in no time flat. My mother and I met early that afternoon. "So, are you ready? We took you to acquire the gorilla and you've probably acquired one of the falcons we have." I had acquired all three of them actually. "So I want you to close your eyes and focus on the gorilla. That will activate the morph."

I had donned a sapphire blue leotard for morphing, because my mother said that I couldn't morph normal clothing. I closed my eyes and focused on the gorilla. I imagined Donky Kong. I imagined King Kong. I finally settled on the image of Jane Goodall and her gorillas because that was what I identified the gorilla with the most. 

My body became covered in shaggy black fur with silver highlights. I began to grow, my muscles tripling in size. My legs grew shorter. My arms grew longer. My face grew out into a rubbery black muzzle. The morph outfit was gone. The human was gone. In it's place was a male silverback gorilla. 

I looked at my hands. I was huge. I tried out the gorilla strength on a fallen sapling that was still partially in the ground. I wrapped fingers as big a sausages around it and pulled. 

With a crunch the tree was uprooted. My mother was morphing as well, into her peregrine falcon Camero. She fluttered up to a tree. Be careful Feralae, the animal instincts surface. They will guide you in combat but they might cause problems in controlling the morph.

Not with this one. I said. Wait a minute! I can talk? I didn't think that I could talk in morph.

Mom laughed. Oh you can talk all right, its called thoughtspeak. It's like E-mail, you can make it private or public, depending on who you want to talk to. 

I looked up at the falcon. Two hours right? This morph is so cool! 

Yup, two hours. Your father is better at time keeping than I am. Mom answered. I noticed that she clutched a watch in her talons. Tomorrow I'll teach you how to use a flying morph. 

I smiled. How to I demorph? 

Just imagine yourself human. Mom said, fluttering to the ground. The 'Falcon' closed it's eyes and focused. 

I focused too, remembering Thanksgiving and the smell of the pie. I remembered looking in the mirror and seeing me in that new dress that my mother had passed on. The dress was in the traditional Japanese style. With the smell of the pie filling my nostrils mom had brushed my hair until it was soft and shining like a raven's wing. Then she had French braided it. When I had taken the braid out the next morning my hair was all curly. 

I didn't even notice the changes reversing themselves as I demorphed. I closed my eyes, opening them to find myself fully human. "Wow! That was so cool!" 

"Wasn't it?" Mom asked with a smile. 

I came home and went to work brushing the horses and mucking stalls. Then suddenly I heard. "Garfash nur salardak nar." 

I felt a chill go down my spine. I ducked into a stall with Beemer, my mother's enormous Shire/Thoroughbred cross. I began to morph the gorilla, then stopped. I felt a chill go down my spine and focused on the lion morph. I crouched at the bottom of the newly cleaned stall. I saw a pair of clawed feet go by, then another. 

My hair and skin turned pure white. My hair spread around my neck and shoulders. My fingernails lengthened into claws. My bones began to rearrange. My heart pounded in terror as my insides matched them. The tail sprouted from my rear end. I felt myself growing, enormous. My muscles doubled, tripled, quadrupled in strength. 

Beemer began to panic. He whinnied in terror. The monster heard it. 

"Check stalls, garfish na." He said. 

"I check, narlin ra." 

I crouched, ready to spring on them. They slowly worked their way along the stalls in the stable. The llamas, sheep, dogs, and horses were terrified, barking, baying, and bahhhing in terror. They smelled the monsters, they smelled the lion. The creatures drew back in surprise. But they were slowly making their way down. 

The monster opened the door. I almost fell over from terror. They were seven feet tall. Their heads reminded me of my father's gargoyles, blades all over and red eyes. They had blades at their wrists, blades at their elbows, and blades at their knees. They had a tail with stegosaurus spikes. Suddenly I knew who had broken into my father's house. Hello. I said angrily. You tore up my house to try and steal my box. Not only are you not going to get the box but I am going to kill you.

They laughed. I leaped. My fangs sank into the first creature's neck. There was a crack as the monster's neck broke. The other one was knocked against the wall so hard that I heard it's spine crack. It was unconscious. I demorphed in record time and focused on acquiring it. Then I began to morph. I'd need something with hands, and blades. This guy had both. 

I began to shoot upward, ever upward. I was approaching Shaq size. My neck lengthened and my head elongated into a beak/snake snout. My hands sprouted long nails. I sprouted a tail and suddenly. SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! The blades came last of all. I sank my wrist blade into the monster's neck. He convulsed and died. Then I took both monsters up to the hayloft and demorphed. 

I began to open the stalls one by one. The animals had quieted down. I let the falcons out, and the dogs. They waited at attention. I whistled and gestured to the back pastures. The dogs and falcons, with a yip and a scream began to drive the animals to pasture. Except for Beemur. I saddled and armored him. Then I donned my father's armor and swords. Then I grabbed my bladed spear and mounted. I had attached my backpack, extra clothes, and supplies to the other horses and llamas, even to some of the larger sheep. They included extra blankets and a woven rain poncho. They were long gone. I pulled my face guard up into the helmet and buckled the neck guard.

I heard a guttural voice ask, "What's keeping you?" 

"YAH BEEMUR! YAH YAH!" I urged the warhorse forward. 

We bolted out of the stables. I saw a scene of fear and devastation. Dark vans and a black stretch limousine were parked all over the lawn. More of the weird monsters were ransacking the house. They had entered the workshop. My parents were tied up and being led from the house. "FERALAE!" Dad cried. 

"DAD!" 

"RUN! DON'T LET THEM GET THE BOX! NO MATTER WHAT DON'T LET THEM GET…" 

Be quiet human. The creature overseeing their capture looked like a centaur, almost. It was blue from head to toe. The creature had no mouth and only slits for a nose. My 'artist's eye' noticed that he had seven fingers instead of five. And it had a tail. The tail had a scythe-like blade at the end and moved like a bullwhip. The creature had a pair of eyes on stalks.

Even more frightening, the creature seemed to exude an aura of evil, of corruption. 

Well, well, well, a human child dressed for battle. I will find this amusing.

"Who are you, what do you want with us?" I asked, in a monotone that told him that I wasn't impressed. 

I am Visser 3 of the yeerk empire. I have come to take the blue box. If you do not give it to me I will infest you and take it anyway. 

"What do you mean infest?"

We yeerks are parasites. We infest the brains of species and take control of them. Your planet is next human. Beware of the side you take.

"FERA DON'T GIVE IT TO THEM!" Mom cried. "GET OUT OF HERE!"

"FERA RUN!" Dad shouted. 

"Okay, I'll run. YAH BEEMUR! LEXUS!" 

I kneed Beemur into a gallop. Lexus dove from the sky. 

And another shape, a hawk with a gorgeous red tail dove on the Visser. Three attacks, would the Visser be able to foil them all? 

Beemur reared, knocking him over with his momentum. The Visser fell with a boom. He whipped his tail. I parried the blow. Lexus sank her talons into the Visser's back. The red tailed hawk ducked back, evading the blow from the Visser's tail. The Visser screamed in pain. "PIN BEEMUR!" 

Beemur pinned the Visser's tail under him. I leveled my staff at his throat. The Visser's eyes widened. "Well then parasite. If you're really a parasite you have one chance to live. Get out of your host's head an get your troops out of here and I'll let you live."

The Visser blinked. You dare tell me what to do?

"Hell yeah I dare. Get out of your host's head and I'll let you live. Refuse and I'll cut off your head. Life or death punk! That's your choice, life or death." I said at my coldest. 

This is so humiliating. The Visser growled. He seemed to think about the prospect. I did not like that silence. It meant that I had missed something. I had left some other option open to him. Alright, here I come. You, fool! He indicated one of the hork bajir. Get ready to retrieve me. 

The yeerk slowly, reluctantly pulled out. I watched it slither out of the creature's ear. NO YOU FOOL! The host cried. 

But it was too late. The yeerks were dragging my mother and father towards the van. "HELP ME!" I cried. 

The host and I bolted for the monsters. But Beemur, war horse or not, was terrified of the yeerks. He reared up on his hind legs, whinnying in fear. "NO ALLORAN YOU FOOL!" My father cried. "PROTECT MY DAUGHTER! GET HER OUT OF HERE!" 

Alloran, that was the host's name. I will! He shouted. Then to me he said. We have at most two hours to pack what you need. We need to get you out of here! 

"Right." I said shakily, because I knew that when I saw my parents next they wouldn't be my parents. I dismounted, tying Beemur to the fence post. I had my knife, sword, and spear. I ran into the workshop, grabbing tools, hammers, and pots and pans. I tied them up in tapestries, rugs and blankets. I grabbed the radio, mini TV, and generator. I stuffed matches and lighters into a camping bag, along with canned fuel and camping food. I grabbed saddles and bridals and the tethers that my father used for the horses when we were on ranching trips. 

I threw all of this into the simple wagon. We were currently in the middle of a drought, making the small wagon incredibly hard to track. An hour and a half left, I wanted the trail to be as cold as possible. 

I ransacked the house. I grabbed my laptop and equipment. I shoved it into a backpack along with my game boy and assorted cartridges. I shoved clothes, shoes, boots, a jacket and extra morph outfits into my backpacks and duffel bags. I grabbed mother's angel and crystal, and the dragon and unicorn statues that my father had given me. The last things to go were my guitar, harmonica, recorder, and two penny whistles. 

I backed Beemur up to the wagon, hitched him up, and sent him off at top speed. Alloran kept up easily. Where are we going? He asked. 

"I know of a place. I used to hide there when I wanted to be left alone. It's a ravine, with a cave at one end. That's where I sent the livestock. The dogs know where to take them. So do the falcons." I answered. 

May I ask your name? He asked. 

"Sure, I'm Feralae, it means wild wings." 

My full name is Alloran Semitur Corass. Alloran answered. Please call me Alloran. 

"Gladly Alloran. It looks like we're stuck together. Care to throw in your lot with me?" 

Of course, your father _did_ ask me to protect you. Alloran pointed out. 

"So do you know any place better that we could go?" I asked. 

I know who we should be looking for. They'll find us anyway.

"Who?" I asked. "Friends of yours?" 

Not really. Alloran answered. But they are the same species. We are called Andilites, and we have sworn to destroy the yeerks. 

"That's good I guess." I said with a shrug. "They'll help hide us?" I asked. 

Very likely. Alloran answered. 

"Well a likely is pretty good." I answered. 

Very good. Alloran answered. Especially since there's one of them right up there. He pointed. 

I saw a red tailed hawk shadowing us lazily. "Can they/you morph?" 

I am an excellent morpher, and believe me, they can morph as well. Alloran told me. I really hope that they're coming to help us. 

"What do we do if they don't?" I asked. 

I have no idea, but our options are likely to be far from pretty. What sort of morphs do you have? 

"A gorilla, one of those blade monsters, a couple of birds of prey, and a few others." I answered. I still felt uncomfortable sharing my morph repertoire. The Visser had very likely taken my mother, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to try and get Alloran back. If that happened then Alloran would know all of my morphs. I didn't want that to happen. 

We made it to the cave. The red tail was still in tow. The dogs were keeping the sheep, llamas, vicunas and others wool animals, as well as the horses, inside the cave. The animals were in turn terrified by the presence of Alloran. Alloran turned his stalk eyes to the sky where the Red Tail circled, indecisive. 

PLEASE! I BEG YOU! GET THE OTHERS! Alloran cried to the sky. DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME AGAIN!

The red tail dipped slightly to the side, turned and flew off. I took my backpack from the nearest horse. I piled more of the things that I'd saved from the barn, workshop, and house onto the bed of the wagon. The wagon itself had been made for four animals, but the horses were all gone and there had been no time to get them back. The wagon bed was filled. The tools, spinning wheel, and loom took up most of the room. In the end I piled the futon that dad had stored in the hayloft onto the top of the wagon. I released Beemur. He was a riding horse, not a carter. I would hitch mother's shire stallion and mares to the wagon when it came time to flee. I had bolted down the cargo when six birds of prey descended on the cave. 

Alloran stayed to help care for the animals while I went outside to meet them. I watched as the birds of prey demorphed… INTO HUMANS!


	5. The Dogwatch

****

The Refugee

__

Chapter 4- Cassie

We were incredibly lucky that Ax had seen the limousine and vans escaping the scene. He had turned around mid-flight to warn us that the yeerks were headed for Feralae's house. I had just morphed and was going for Jake when Tobias arrived to tell us what had happened. Alloran was free, but Feralae's morph capable mother was being carted off to be infested, along with her father. Tobias tracked Feralae and Alloran in their frantic escape. I went off to get Jake and Rachel. Ax went to find Marco. We had converged on the house to find it empty. Tobias came then, to tell us where Feralae had stopped. He had told us Alloran's desperate cry not to let them take him again. 

We demorphed, and Feralae's jaw dropped. Alloran's stalk eyes fell. "You… I know you Cassie! How did you? Who gave you the power?" 

It was Elfangor wasn't it? Alloran asked. I should have known the sentimental fool had one last trick up his sleeve. He hated the Visser too much to let him win. The attacks started almost immediately after Elfangor's death. Alloran laughed. Amazing, the things you've done! 

"But, does that mean that you were tracking me?" Feralae demanded. 

"Pretty much." Marco said with a grin. "I take it Alloran has already told you about the yeerks?" 

"Yeah, but what were those bladed creatures?" 

"Hork bajir." Rachel answered. "They're incredibly powerful, but not invincible." 

"Yeah, I know, I ambushed two of them when they came after me. I acquired one of them too, but neither lived to tell their superior anything about what happened." Feralae said with considerable satisfaction. 

"Well." Jake said, rubbing his hands together. "This saves an introduction doesn't it?" He asked. 

"Pretty much." Tobias answered. 

  
"Not quite, who's your friend?" Feralae asked, inclining her head at Ax. "And what's the hawk's name?"

  
My name is Aximili Esgarrouth Isthil, however, my human friends insist on shortening my name to Ax. Ax answered. 

And my name is Tobias. The hawk answered. 

Tobias son of Elfangor? Demanded Alloran. I thought that you were a street kid! 

I sure fooled you and the Visser huh Alloran? Tobias asked with what I swore was a hawk smile.

"Well then, Feralae we need to find a way to get you and your animals out of here." I said. "I doubt that this place will be safe long." 

"Yeah, I'm just lucky that my mom doesn't know about this place. It's hidden by a waterfall." Feralae pointed to it. There was a portion of the cave that wasn't covered by the waterfall. That was how I'd gotten the animals in without getting my belongings wet. "I grabbed everything that was useful. I just need to find a place to keep it. I doubt I'll be able to go home." She said with a sigh. 

  
"You're right, which means that we need a place to keep all the animals." Jake said with a weary sigh. 

"The hork bajir valley?" Marco suggested. "I mean, we were going there anyway." 

"Sure, I mean, we're not likely to sneak her into the other contacts." Jake said with a sigh.

He was deliberately not mentioning Erek or Mr. Tidwell, for the reason that he was worried about giving them away. If the yeerks were to recapture Alloran then he'd already know who we were. We could carry on the fight if we had to evacuate, but we needed contacts in the city in order to do that. 

I settled down to my first watch with a sigh, and helped Feralae with the horses and other animals. 

~**Feralae~**

We made plans. We would alternate watches tonight and set out for the hork bajir valley in the morning. Ax and Tobias would be with us at all times. Tobias made the birds nervous, but between us we managed to build a corral in the back of the cave to keep the animals from escaping. I tethered the jesses of all but Lexus before heading off to hunt. I came back with a couple of wild turkeys and a pair of rabbits. I cut pieces off the meat for the dogs and the falcons before roasting the rest. Tobias went off to hunt his evening meal nearby. 

Alloran and Ax gathered bundles of grass for the horses, sheep, and pack animals. They set them down in different places in the corral. Tobias came back with Rachel, who was available for the evening watch because her mother was taking Sarah and Jordan to the end of year craft fair at their school. She would also be attending 

That was an incredible escape. Ax said with an eye-smile. Were you andilite, it would have made you a hero. 

"Yeah, well I'd trade the fame for a hamburger any day." I said, tearing off a piece of turkey from the roasting carcass and testing it. "Mmm… could use a bit of barbecue sauce."

A bald eagle blew through the curtain of water created by the waterfall. Hi! Rachel said cheerful as she demorphed. "It's my watch, so I figured I'd come visit." 

"Hi." I said with a smile. "Come join me for dinner." I said with a grin. I had toasted a couple of slices of sour bread from my parent's freezer downstairs. I handed her a roast turkey sandwich before biting into my own. 

"Wow." Rachel exclaimed before biting into the sandwich. "This stuff is pretty good, where'd you learn to cook like this?" 

"Home on the range." I said with a chuckle. "I'm an only child, although my mother is pregnant with a second sibling. I wonder how the Visser will react to that." I said with a wicked smile. "My dad used to take me out camping. He's a rancher first and an artist second. He's an Irish orphan, but he was adopted by a Navajo couple who were infertile. He was raised a Navajo. He learned metallurgy, weaving and ranching. My mother is the daughter of a miko, you know, a Japanese Priestess." 

"No I don't." Rachel blinked in surprise. 

"Okay, remember Rei in Sailor Moon? She's a miko." 

"Oh!" Rachel exclaimed. "That's a miko. They never used the Japanese word." 

"Of course they wouldn't." I said, rolling my eyes. "You learn a lot from subtitled anime." 

Rachel took a big bite before swallowing. "That's pretty cool, a really mixed background." 

"Yeah." I said with a smile. "Anyway, I picked up a lot of my father's skills." I explained. "He's the one who made me this." I snuggled deeper into the wool rainbow blanket that my dad had made. He was the only one who knew that I was a lesbian. It was hard, keeping the secret, but it stood me in good stead now that I was part of the battle. 

"That's a pretty blanket." Rachel commented. "Do you like rainbows?" 

"Oh yeah!" I grinned. "It has a special significance for me." 

"Oh tell me about it!" Rachel begged. 

"Nope, my secret!" I smirked. I liked Rachel. She just needed to unlearn a few prejudices. Like the fact that gay sex was close. "My dad even made me some jewelry. I've got a labrys, and ankh a dragon, and a thunderbird with six wings. But you can't exactly morph jewelry, so I packed them." 

Rachel fussed over the jewelry, which I dug out to show her. She loved them. "When we free your father I swear I'm going to spend all my allowance to commission a grizzly bear necklace and pawprint earrings!" She squealed. 

I laughed. "Rachel are you always like this with clothes?" I asked, flushing.

"Pretty much." Rachel said with a chuckle. "Pardon my manners." 

I chuckled. "That's quite alright." She didn't know, and I was not ready to tell her unless she favored yea or nay. 

Rachel threw a cheerful arm around my shoulders. "Come on, cheer up. There are some good things to being an Animorph as well." 

I looked up at the stars outside the cave. "'Still I feel like a child as I look at the moon, maybe I grew up a little too soon.'" I mused. 

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked. "Having trouble taking it all in?" 

I chuckled. "I used to have angels/ They used to watch over me/ Love was not a stranger/ Love ain't what it used to be/ Don't want these devils/ They're knocking at my door… Oh I can love you, no more…" I sang softly.

"Hey, you can still love your parents. I mean, they're still alive. They just have a yeerk in their brains. We fight for the people that we love. That's the thing about being an Animorph. You fight for the people that you care about." Rachel explained. 

I chuckled. "That's all well and good if your parents are free. But my mother is very likely Visser 3's new host body. And that could be a problem." 

"Marco's mother is the host of Visser One." Rachel said with a quirky smile. "If you need somebody to talk to about that, it's him." 

"Thanks." I said with a smile. 

I had thought that Rachel was prejudiced, that she would be hard to deal with. I was totally wrong, because she totally understood. Just one problem… one issue that I wasn't sure that she'd deal with.

I shared dinner with Rachel before Marco came in for his watch. "Hey." He said with a smile. "I just wanted to let you know that if you think you're alone, you're not really. My mother is one of them, she's Visser One. And Jake's brother Tom is one of them too." 

I smiled. "Thanks Marco." I said with a smile. "So what's the hork bajir valley like?" 

"Absolutely beautiful. It looks almost like Eden. There's enormous trees and flowers everywhere. It's amazing. And there are caves where you can store your stuff. The hork bajir live in trees, so they don't use them." Marco explained. "And there's a lake with a river and several springs leading to it, so it doesn't dry up." 

I smiled, "Sounds nice. Marco…" I said, seeming to wilt. "What am I supposed to do? About my mother I mean. Visser three is very likely to take her as his host, because he wants a morph capable body."

"I'm not sure Feralae." Marco said softly. "Every time my mother comes to Earth I try to be cold, to focus on the mission, but it doesn't work, I end up screwing up big time. It works out okay though. It hurts, but it works out okay." 

I was _SO_ not reassured. But then Marco noticed the blanket that I had wrapped around my shoulders. "Cool, is that a P.R.I.D.E. flag?" 

I snorted. "How'd you know?" 

"I'm bisexual." Marco smirked. "Girls or boys, they're all the same, I just get hooorrr-ney!" Marco laughed. "So…"

"So what?" I asked. 

"So I told you _MY_ sexual orientation, you tell me _YOURS_." Marco chuckled, giving me a little nudge. 

"Lesbian." I said with a small smile. "And someday I'm going to go there." 

"Go where?" Marco asked.   
  
"Lesbos silly! That's where we get the name Lesbian." I smirked. "You should really learn your geography. By the way." I leaned over to whisper in Marco's ear. "Is Rachel free?" 

Marco rolled on the ground in laughter. He laughed so hard he had tears coming out of his eyes. When he could finally keep a straight face (no pun intended) Marco said. "As far as I can tell Rachel is head over heals for bird boy Tobias." 

"Great. You and I are the only queers in a miniature army. Do they have a 'don't ask don't tell' policy too?" I asked, rolling my eyes. 

Marco shook his head. "I don't really know. But you're not the only person to be disappointed by Rachel." Marco laughed again. "Just hang in there. Things will get better, and get some sleep, I'll wake you up if something happens." 

Rachel and the bird boy. Great. But I followed Marco's advice and flopped down on my P.R.I.D.E. blanket. 

I had barely slept when Tobias and Jake were shaking me awake. "Feralae, you have to wake up. The yeerks are coming, we need to move!" 

I was up in an instant. Everybody was there. I began to morph to gorilla. There was no need to give away more morphs than were necessary. The Visser would be expecting a gorilla. He'd/She'd get a gorilla. 

Even as I morphed I packed up camp. Tobias, how far away!? I demanded. 

Ten miles and closing. Hurry it up! Tobias shouted. 

I snapped open the corral enclosure. The animals were nervous. I noticed that the other Animorphs were doing battle morphs. Can you drive the animals? I asked. I'd suggest wolf, but how many hork bajir are there? 

Ten, that plus the Visser? That's way way too many. Tobias said, near panic. 

I backed mother's shire team into the harness and hooked them up in record time. Marco! Help me out! 

Marco rolled everything up into a ball in the PRIDE blanket and shoved it under the futon. Then he retied the cargo. Ready to go! He swung up into the wagon. 

I grabbed the falcons and unhooded them. Move! I told the Eagle, Falcon, and Hawk. Drive, herd and move! 

They followed Tobias out of the cave, gaining altitude. 

Five miles! You guys you need to hurry! 

I grabbed the attention of the lead dog, the male border collie that my father had trained with hand signals. Then I made the signal for the same commands I had given the birds. 

I followed Marco up into the wagon. Jake had become a tiger. Cassie had morphed a wolf. Ax was Ax and Tobias was Tobias. Marco was a gorilla, like me. YAH YAH! I told the team. Cassie and Jake snapped at their heals. We blew out of the cave. We were away! We were away!

I drove the horses to the limit. Marco had taken up my bladed spear. The Animorphs drove the wagon at top speed. Where are we going? I asked Marco. 

The next way point in the journey to the valley. He explained. There's a ravine. If we can get there before the Visser does we can hide. 

Ten miles behind us I heard the roar of rage as the Visser found an empty cave.


	6. The Ellimist's plea?

****

The Refugee

__

Chapter 5- Cassie

I was flying over Feralae's house that night when I saw Mr. Tidwell pull up to the house. This was both unusual and worrying. Mr. Tidwell was a spy for us, a controller, but a spy nonetheless. He got out and Feralae's father came out to meet him. They spoke for a moment, something that I couldn't catch. I couldn't help my curiosity, so I said to Mr. Tidwell in private thoughtspeak. Illim, if your friend there is a peacenik, make your right hand into a fist. 

Tidwell's hand balled into a fist, as he said something through gritted teeth. Okay, I'm coming in for a landing. I landed in a tree and demorphed. I slithered down the elm tree and walked over to the pair of them. 

Feralae's father and Mr. Tidwell turned to me. "Hi Cassie. I thought I smelled your handiwork." Illim said with a smile. 

"Yeah, just to let you guys know that Feralae is safe. She managed to get most of her belongings out." I said with a smile. "I'll be going back to her camp in the morning. We're bringing her to the hork bajir valley." I paused, then, in a low whisper I asked. "Did Visser 3 take Feralae's mother?" 

"Yes, he did, or rather, she did." Illim answered. 

"Cassie wasn't it?" Feralae's father said tentatively. "Can you do me a favor? I've packed a travel bag for her; toiletries and some pieces of Andilite technology that can't get into Yeerk hands. There's a letter for her in the front pouch, and some sandwiches, crackers, and soda. You'll need to hurry. Visser 3 will be back any moment." 

"I will Illim." I answered and set off down the road.

That night I hid the bag in my closet. It was a present for Feralae and it would remain her present. But there was something about Feralae that I couldn't get out of my head. I kept thinking of her, alone in the night. She was beautiful, so beautiful. 

Wait a minute! I wasn't supposed to think of Feralae as beautiful. She's a girl isn't she? Isn't she? So strange, but her presence had woken something up inside of me that I couldn't explain. It was so weird, yet so new, and I liked it. 

Then fear welled up, because I knew, on some deeper level, that something was wrong. What, I couldn't tell, but something. I got up from my bed and looked in the mirror. Nothing seemed to be different, nothing that I noticed at least. Yet when I got near Feralae, it was the oddest sensation. It was a swooping, soaring sensation. Not even Jake gave me that feeling. 

So what was going on with me? Maybe the Drode had interfered again? I felt it last time, a sensation of something wrong. 

No, that was a different kind of wrong. When space-time had been altered it was more of a… a feeling… that there was something that I was supposed to be doing and wasn't. This was a different kind of wrong from a reality warp. 

But if not Drode's interference then who's? The Ellimist? "No, he appears when that happens." I told myself. I sighed, getting up and going down to the barn. I slipped into my morph outfit and focused on the horse. 

Morphing usually took the worries away, especially my first morph, a horse. It was my favorite mare. I finished the morph in about thirty seconds and blew out of the barn, running and running. I leapt fences, gates. The air whipped my mane and caught the breath in my chest. I ran past the final fence and demorphed. 

I was panting, tired. But the feeling of something being wrong didn't go away. Running didn't take it away. I morphed owl and flew on the night, circling the woods. I picked up my watch at the barn door and flew with it clutched in my talons. I could keep better track of the time this way. 

Finally, three hours and several morphs later, I landed in the barn, exhausted. I redressed in my pajamas and went back up to bed. 

The next day was the last day of school. We had a half-day and almost immediately after we'd gone home we left it again. It was risky to fly side by side, but we did anyway, because we knew that the Visser had a half a day head start on us. I went on the ground, carrying the back pack in hork bajir morph. 

We reached the canyon to find it deserted. I did, however, see hoof marks on the ground. I saw a series of dots and dashes drawn on the ground with a stick. Wow, she's good. Marco said as we demorphed and remorphed. "She used Morse code. The message says that she decided to move on at a slower pace to graze the animals."

"Well then." Jake said, as he focused on peregrine falcon again. "Let's get going shall we?" He asked. 

Five minutes later we were airborne once again. We had a pretty strong tailwind and some killer thermals coming off the mountain. It took almost no time at all to locate Feralae. 

She saw me and screamed. Easy! Easy it's me! I cried. 

Feralae sighed in relief. "Sorry." I began to demorph. 

"Your father gave me this." I said. "He's a peacenik. I told you about them right?" 

"Thank gods. But my mother is still Visser 3. It looks like I won't be going home for quite awhile." She said with a heavy sigh. "It figures." 

She beckoned to me. "Come on up!" She helped me up on the wagon bed. 

"Wow." I exclaimed. "You don't just ride, you drive too?" I asked, as we started off. 

  
"Yup." Tobias and the others kept watch over head. "Alloran, how are you doing?" 

Quite well. I'm actually rather happy to be free. I just hope that Feralae is not upset. He said calmly. I have acquired a good morph for the job. Unfortunately it appears to be a family pet. 

Alloran morphed Feralae's Great Dane. This morph is actually rather happy.

"Yup, that's dogs. They think that everything is a game. We're not sure exactly why, but we think it has something to do with the Pemalites."

The creatures who created that crystal? Alloran asked. 

"Yeah, we found some of their records." I lied. "They were destroyed by a race called the Howlers, but the ones who remained integrated their 'Essence' into wolves. The result was dogs. But as you can see, they aren't as sentient enough to qualify as beings. Too bad, I would have wanted to meet one." Then, "Have you acquired a bird of prey morph yet?" I asked.   
  
Yes, I have acquired a Harris Hawk. Why is it called Harris? 

"It was named for the person who discovered it I suppose." I said with a shrug. 

I looked over at Feralae. How many morphs did she have? I knew that she had gone on an acquiring spree at the Gardens, but I wasn't sure what she had acquired. Again I felt the little swoop in my stomach. Stop it Cassie. I urged myself. Just stop it. 

Then Feralae dramatically wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Come on Cassie! Sing with me! We've got fresh, open mountain air." I shivered inwardly before pulling back. 

"Sing what?" I asked. 

The hills are alive, with the sound of music! Marco sang. 

Marco shut up! Rachel growled. 

Why should I? 

Because I'm an eagle, whereas you're an osprey. Who do you think would win? Rachel asked with a growl. 

I will shut up. Marco said simply. 

"How far to the Valley Tobias?" I asked. 

Not far, and I see no sign of the Visser. 

"That's good at least." Feralae said with a sigh. I got the impression that she was still not used to the whole situation. 

Hey I've got a question. Marco said suddenly. How do we get the wagon into the tiny pass that marks the entrance to the valley? 

I thought for a moment. "I could probably break it down into pieces, or hide it in a cave. I know how to shore things up pretty well. Nobody would see it if I could help it, and it might throw the Visser off if he saw it, no, she saw it. Talk about a gender bender!" 

A what? Ax asked.   


"A story where a girl becomes a boy and a boy becomes a girl by some sort of magical or scientific means."

Like in Ranma ½ Ax. Tobias supplied. Remember that? 

Yes, I was not sure why Ranma changes gender, is that common in human literature?

Feralae laughed. "Not really Ax. People don't really like that sort of thing. I mean, some people can identify, but not many." 

When we came to the Valley I was looking up at a sheer wall. Tobias flew over the top with the falcons. They wouldn't attack unless Feralae told them to. The dogs drove the sheep and horses through the pass in the valley wall. Feralae unhitched the horses and sent them through too. Alloran, demorphed by now, followed her. 

"Toby!" I called as we entered the Valley. 

"Cassie, Tobias, Jake, Marco, Ax, Rachel, welcome all." Toby said, grinning her welcome. Then she paused, eyes narrowing as they rested on Feralae, who was covered in dirt, and Alloran, who she'd recognized instantly as the host of Visser 3. "Who is this, and what is _HE_ doing here?" 

"Toby, meet the newest Animorph, Feralae. She freed Alloran from Visser 3, but the Visser took her mother instead." I explained. 

"Well then butcher." She addressed Alloran curtly. "Let me set down the lines. My father and I are the leaders here. You follow our rules. They're simple ones, but you follow them anyway, otherwise you're out." 

Of course. Alloran seemed to droop. 

"What, did you think that we'd welcome you back with open arms?" Toby demanded. "After what you did to our people. We could have won if you hadn't messed things up." 

Feralae took a deep breath. "I think I should start unloading. Alloran will you help me? I want to get the wagon unloaded and broken down in case the Visser follows us." 

Of course.

"I'll go too." Marco said cheerfully. 

They morphed and left. "Jake, we have a problem." Toby said, sitting on the ground with a sigh. We followed. "We have located a yeerk BioBase, and we've found out that they have a rather unusual group of prisoners." Toby explained. 

"What's a BioBase?" Rachel asked. 

"It is a place where Yeerks breed hosts. In this case hork bajir. We've been keeping a discreet eye on them and we've discovered that they've captured some odd prisoners. We're not sure exactly what they are. The yeerks aren't exactly sure. They look very similar to Earth Butterflies." Toby explained. "When I infiltrated the place myself I found out that the yeerks took them prisoner not so long ago. There were six ships, they only caught one. They haven't tried infesting them yet. They're waiting for Visser One to give them the go ahead. She's on the Anati world now, analyzing the data that the yeerks at the base sent to her. According to yeerk laws, any Visser except Visser One cannot make these decisions. If Visser One is currently, as you humans put it, a 'Lame Duck' or is disabled then the decision is made by Visser Two." Toby explained. 

"So what do they do? Clone hork bajir?" Rachel asked. 

Toby shook her head. "You do not want to know what they do. There are two types of Biobases, ones that adapt animals for use as controllers, and ones that breed hosts of a given species."

"You're talking about rape?" I asked, turning pale. 

Toby nodded softly. "Not quite, if the hork bajir in question does not have a mate, then they are artificially inseminated. If they have a mate then the hork bajir are allowed to… to copulate. The male is reinfested as soon as the yeerks receive confirmation of… that the female hork bajir is carrying. The female is confined to the base until they have come to term. It is not a happy place. I was conceived at such a base. The Ellimist then guided my parents in escape." Toby shivered visibly. 

"Do you have any specific data on these creatures that the yeerks have captured?" Jake asked, worriedly. 

"None." 

****

BUT I DO. Said a voice that seemed to fill the very universe with strength. 

"ELEMIST!" Rachel hissed. "Puppetmaster show yourself!" 

Toby was looking around. She had never seen the Ellimist, I guess she was curious.

The Ellimist appeared in his usual form, a saintly old man. But this time I could sort of… see something different in him. He was trembling, upset. **I AM SORRY TO BOTHER YOU, BUT THOSE SPECIES ARE CALLED KETRANS. I HAVE COME TO YO ANIMORPHS ABOUT THEM. I IMPLORE YOU TO SAVE THEM. **

"Why, what good does it do us?" Rachel demanded. "You push us one way and pull us another. You move us around like pawns on a chessboard, and for what? So that we can make improvements that we won't see for another three hundred years? So that Tobias gets to choose between fight and live? What do we get out of it?" 

****

UNFORTUNATELY NOTHING, NOTHING IMMEDIATE. HOWEVER, THESE KETRANS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO ME.

"And they are important _why_?" Rachel asked, arching an eyebrow in irritation.

There was silence, the Ellimist didn't want to answer. Then it hit me. 

It really hit me. "Oh my God, their _your_ species aren't they?" I asked. 

Jake looked at me curiously. "But I thought he was an Ellimist, not a Ketran." 

I chuckled. "We make screen names on the Internet, why can't other species do the same? I'm willing to bet that somewhere along the line the Ellimist was a Ketran, but something happened to him that threw him into space time, separating him from his species, but something happened to these Ketrans didn't it?" I asked. 

****

THEY ARE IN THE TWILIGHT OF THEIR TIME, THE LAST OF THEIR KIND. LIKE THE HORK BAJIR, THEY FACE BOTH ENSLAVEMENT AND POSSIBLY EXTINCTION. THE OTHER KETRANS WILL COME FOR THEM, BUT THE YEERKS WILL CATCH THEM WHEN THEY DO. 

Tears fell down my face. The sadness in the Ellimist's tone made me sure. He was upset, saddened, because he was watching his species die. Ax dropped his stalk eyes and tail in a gesture of mourning. Tobias was silent in the trees. Toby had tears in her eyes too. I never knew that hork bajir had tears. 

"Ellimist, thank you." I said softly. "Thank you for giving us warning." 

Jake looked at me, then the others. "We'll talk it over Ellimist, but I'm pretty sure that we'll decide to do it." 

****

THANK YOU JAKE, ANIMORPH.


	7. The Decision

****

The Refugee

__

Chapter 6- Cassie

"I miss everything!" Feralae pouted, flopping down on her newly made bed. She had put it to the back of the cave along with the TV, Radio and the generator. Everything else was still in a pile of bundles to the far end. "You guys got to have all the fun."

"Fun?" Marco asked, rolling his eyes.

"The real question is, do we do it?" Rachel asked. 

"That's new coming from you Rachel." Marco sniped. 

"The reason why I'm asking is that I HATE these kinds of missions." Rachel growled. "He pushes or pulls us, it's like Chess and Jake is the King. King to C-Twelve, oh I'm sorry, I just moved you into checkmate." 

"There's always a choice Rachel." Feralae pointed out, pulling a sandwich out of one backpack and taking a big bite. "Haven't you read the essay, Evil is Compatible With a Good God by John Hick. He points out that God, in this case the Ellimist, cannot create creatures that are not free to choose, because that would be immoral. In this case we're free to chose, but if something goes wrong then we'd better be able to take the consequences." I explained. "And by the way Rachel, in Chess you're not allowed to move your King into checkmate on purpose." 

"Whatever!" RAchel threw up her hands in exasperation. "The point is that I don't like going on open ended missions. Demolition missions fine, as long as they're planned. But even _I'm_ not stupid enough to go in _blind_!" 

"You did once." Marco pointed out. "Remember the polar bear incident?" 

"Have I done that again after that?" RAchel asked, "No." 

"What polar bear incident?" Feralae asked, looking from Rachel, to Marco to Rachel again. 

"Don't worry about it." Marco rolled his eyes. "Let's just say that Rachel learned a huge lesson about arrogance." 

"I don't think she's arrogant." Feralae put in. 

"You don't know Rachel." Marco said, watching as Feralae slid the matress into the wagon bed, using the former wagon bed as a bedframe. She set up perches for Lexus, Cadillac, and Escalade. She put up a fourth perch at a respectful distance from the other three. "Tobias try this one. I figure if I'm going to have guests I'd better have places for them to sit." 

Tobias fluttered up to the perch. Thanks. 

"Do we need to take a vote on this?" Jake asked. 

"You know my vote." I put in. "Save a sentient species, of course I'd do it. In a heart beat." 

Toby spoke up. "Jake, I would like my people to be in on this. It is an opportunity for us to free more hork bajir, to expand our population." 

"Of course Toby, we wouldn't have known about this opportunity if it weren't for you." Jake said with a smile. 

  
"I'm in." Marco said suddenly. "I mean, if these people used to be the Ellimist's species they can't be all that bad. I still don't like the guy, but that's because of the trouble he causes. The Ellimist isn't too bad a person. And he has done some things for us. This is our chance to give something in return." 

I'm in. Tobias agreed. 

I do not believe I should vote Prince Jake. Ax began. 

"Don't call me Prince." Jake said automatically. "And Ax, I'm telling you to vote, you too Alloran, if you want to come along." 

I would be honored to have my revenge. Alloran answered with an eye smirk. After what they did to me I am more than willing to do anything that it takes to defeat the yeerks and free more hosts. 

"Nothing like experience to humble arrogance." Toby said with a cold sneer.

_What_ did you say? Alloran demanded, whirling on her. 

"I said that you're an arrogant, grass eating, slug sniffing, destructive, egotistical maniac, that's what I just said." Toby growled. 

If we were on opposite sides then I would gladly mangle you're hindquarters _green nosed_, **_bark chewing aristh_**! 

"At least I'm not a murderer!" Toby snarled. 

At least I have more experience than you do! Alloran shouted.

This argument was just turning wierder and wierder. War Prince Alloran, can we please get to a point and finish with the vote? Ax begged, not sure who to address and how. On one hand, Alloran was an authority figure. On the other Toby was an ally and fellow warrior. 

"Alloran are you coming or not?" Jake asked. "And please don't fight you two, we have planning to do." 

"He started it." Toby.

She started it. Alloran.

"And I'm ending it." Jake answered. "Ax?"

I will go, I am curious about these Ketrans. It may be that they have met andilites before, back in our primeval past, through this Ellimist. They may even be the origin of our legends about Ellimists. Ax answered. 

"Oh all right I'll go." Rachel said with a sigh. "There's NO way that I'm going to miss this!" She grinned wickedly. 

"So we've decided?" Jake asked. 

We nodded. 

"LET'S DO IT!" Rachel of course. 


	8. Echoes of the Past

****

The Refugee

__

Chapter 7- Feralae

So we began to plan. We all decided that we'd go in on a Saturday. Jake would arrange for somebody called Erek to pull a doppleganger manuver for the four of them. Then we'd have the whole weekend to go. I grinned, quoting Digimon, "We won't come back until the base is destroyed." 

"Aren't you being a little dramatic?" Marco had asked. 

"I love this girl!" Rachel exclaimed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders in a bear hug. 

They didn't get it. That's okay, it was a private joke. They dispersed, until it was just me Ax and Alloran. Ax settled himself down at the TV. If you don't mind. 

I didn't, because I needed to look for something to keep my things in. So I morphed Harris hawk and flew to the abandoned shack that I'd seen and stepped inside. 

The shack itself was big and dark, I heard rats scurrying for cover and pigeons or squirrels scuttling away under the roof. The furniture was old, but still in good condition. There were pack saddles and tools and tack and other things, and they looked really old. In one box I found some old bars of gold. I realized that this must have been the house of a prospector or miner back when people still could mine gold out of streams. There were even shelves full of books and journals. I pulled one off the shelf and opened it. It was full of notations, but I only recognized one of them. It said, Three hundred dollars found at eleven above. That was miner's jargon for three hundred dollars worth of ore found eleven stakes above the original site. Then I read the actual journal, tears were stained on the page. 

My name is Caroline. My husband and I have worked this mine for so long, but he has gone off to fight and he has died at the battle of Shiloh. There is word of a sickness in the land and I have warned my daughter to keep away from town. If somebody from town whould come and find us dead, the mine was discovered at eleven above. 

I put the diary in the empty backpack I had carried with me. The tack was too rusty. With the proper equipment it could be cleaned, but the leather was rotted. Anything that wasn't wood, stone, or ore was going to be ruined. I looked around on the book shelf and found a weathered copy of an old classic. It was labled, Robinson Caruso in gold lettering. I put the tattered old book in my bag.

I stood back, trying to imagine this place when it was full of life. I heard hooves outside. Feralae? Are you in here? Alloran asked, from outside. He had to duck his eye stalks and tail to keep from hitting his head on the door. 

"Alloran, this place was a miner's house." I said, turning to face him. "They had to leave it behind. I suppose they died or something. But it was left behind." 

What are you doing here? He asked, looking around curiously. 

"I was looking for furniture, or furniture materials. Be careful, they had a cellar. I don't think you want to step into it, and the floor might not be sturdy. 

I went over to the bed to see if it was alright. I sniffed. "The bedding is moldy. I'd hate to violate this place, but maybe I should move in here." 

Why? Alloran asked. 

"Well, for a bunch of reasons. I mean, I don't want to be a burden to the hork bajir. I'm sure Toby understands. We'll just rest up the teams tonight and get cleaning tomorrow." 

I suppose that makes sense. Alloran said thoughtfully. I found a nice meadow not far from here. We could have peace. I don't think that I'd be welcome with the hork bajir, not after what I did to them.

"What did you do?" I asked. 

I let a virus loose among them. Alloran said grimly. One that nearly killed them off. But some survived, and a few had immunity.

"There's a lot of worry about that too, in the news at least." I said, looking around. "People are afraid of other people letting loose biological weapons, poisons, other things. A plague of locusts could hit and they'd blame it on the Middle East." I said. I looked up, a rat scurried above on the rafters, a white rat. That was odd. White rats aren't wild. 

It would take a lot of cleaning, but yes, I believe that this could be repaired. The floor is solid oak, and the earth creatures known as termites did not get it. Nor did carpenter bees. 

"Oh I'd know if carpenter bees had gotten it. There'd be a flurry of saw dust coming from the walls. I'd hate to be leaching off of another person's space, but the people who lived here are dead and judging from the dust on the floor."

Or they have moved out and abandoned the property. Alloran pointed out. You do not know for certain. 

"One thing's for certain. They've got a fortune in." I flicked open the lid of their strong box. The lock had corroded off and it was easy for me to open it. "Gold and silver ore it looks like." 

I would suggest that you take that away immediately. If you can find this place and it's treasures that other humans most certainly can. Alloran suggested.

"I think I will." I said. I opened a secondary pouch on my back pack. I emptied the gold and silver into first one side pouch, then the other, and what remained into the small front pouch. I looked around for more period treasures. I found a very old dress, but still in relatively good condition. That was definately from the nineteenth century. I found a broach made of highly polished turqouise and silver. I liked silver better than gold, and I slipped it into the bag as well. Then I focused on the hork bajir morph. "I'd better get back and tell them." 

As I left I didn't notice the white rat that watched me from it's hole in the rafters.

I found Tobias and Ax assisting the hork bajir in construction of a watch platform at the entrance that I'd gotten. "Hey you guys." I said, once I'd finished demorphing. "Guess what I found." Alloran and I told them.

Wow! That must have been really old! Tobias exclaimed. What did you bring with you?

"The miner's ores, a broach, the miner's wife's journal, and an old copy of Robinson Caruso." I explained. "But it was too heavy for the Harris Hawk morph to carry, or even my Golden Eagle." I explained. 

Tobias shivered. I hate Golden Eagles. They're all psycho. 

  
"Then I won't use it around you, sorry Tobias, but I figured it was the large bore artillery of the bird world." 

It is, I'm sorry Feralae, I wasn't trying to discourage you. Tobias ruffled his wings. Besides, the more morphs you have the better off you are right?

"Right." I answered. "I think that it may be a good idea for all of us to acquire the Harris Hawk morph. They're really social, so it would be normal for them to fly in close proximity to each other. And they're incredibly agile. Falconers use them for stunts in movies all the time. They're the easiest hawk to tame." 

Well, maybe. And if I wanted to I could probably morph it midair. Tobias said thoughtfully. Look, I'll run your idea by Jake, but you're right. I don't think it's a good idea for Alloran to be hanging with the free hork bajir. I mean, he did try to wipe them out. I think it would be a good idea to find this place. Besides, if the yeerks catch the hork bajir and you don't live with them, then they won't find you. And if the yeerks find you, they won't find the hork bajir. Both groups would have the chance to escape if something bad happens. 

But Tobias seemed thoughtful about the whole thing. Why did he look at me like that? Why did he sound so curious, yet resigned. Had I said something wrong? I slithered down the slope on my rear and went back inside the cave. I flopped on the bed and got some much needed sleep. 

~Rachel~ 

I opened my window that night to wait for Tobias to come back from the mountains after helping to build a speaking tree and a guard platform. He would also tell me how well the hork bajir were coping with Alloran. I would pass word along to Cassie and Cassie would tell Jake. Jake would tell Marco and we'd make arrangements to cope with anything that came up. 

Sure enough, Tobias sailed into the open window. "Hi." I said with a smile as Tobias settled down on my chest. "What's up?"

Feralae and Alloran found an old cabin in the mountains near the hork bajir valley. They'd like permission to stay. Alloran doesn't feel comfortable around the hork bajir. He feels guilty. Tobias said, preening. Feralae is planning on cleaning the place out and moving in. She'll leave the flocks in the valley. Toby was willing to let them stay, since the hork bajir eat bark instead of grass.

"How old is this cabin?" I asked. 

Feralae thinks that it goes back to around the Civil War. Tobias answered. Rachel, I was thinking.

"About David?" I asked. 

That too. Tobias chuckled. But I was thinking, why don't we surprise Feralae when she goes to clean the place. Why don't we help her clean it out?

"We could. I'll bet Cassie has the things necessary to clean this cabin out." I suggested. 

Great. Want me to pass the word along?

"I suppose. Cassie wouldn't like being woken up like that, but I could wait until morning." I looked over. "It's almost morning now." The time was 3:30. "Why don't you wait for Cassie when she goes out to feed the animals?"

Sounds like a plan. Tobias answered. 

"If Jake wants to hold a meeting for this, then come back to get me. I have practice until lunch." I told him. 

See you. Tobias answered. He flew off. 

This would be fun. And we didn't get much fun these days. It seemed as though we were having a mission a week now. Some of them were minor, such as infiltrating meetings of The Sharing. Some of them were major, such as raiding bases and miniature yeerk pools. But whatever the mission, we rarely did anything for fun anymore.

Yeah, fun was something we rarely had anymore. 


	9. A demon's day in madness kissed, I swear...

****

The Refugee

__

Chapter 8- Cassie

"So." Jake said cheerfully. "We need a plan to help Feralae." It was raining outside, heavily. "And we want to get it done. Erek has already agreed to loan us the things we need to help Feralae. We have cleaners, brooms, dustpans, paper towels, rags, sandpaper…"

"Mops, buckets…" Marco counted off the items in the hand cart that Erek had lent us. 

"Furniture finish, paint, brushes…" Rachel said cheerfully. 

"Garden tools, tools in general, nails, screws, and other pieces of brick-a-brack…" I counted. "Plus a hologram emitter from Erek to hide the place with. And a picnic lunch." 

If I may ask Prince Jake, how will we get all of this there? Asked Ax. And do you know how to use all of this equipment? 

"I do." I said calmly. "Well, most of it. I'm not sure how to use the finish and paint. 

"I'm going to help." Erek said cheerfully. "All of you morph something small and climb on and I'll push you along. The weight is like, nothing to me and we'll beat her there." 

Sounds practical enough. Tobias said thoughtfully. 

"Yeah, actually Tobias, it sounds insane." Marco rolled his eyes. "Totally and completely insane." 

I don't see you offering any solutions Marco. Tobias pointed out. 

"Fine, fine, as Rachel would say, let's do it." Marco threw up his hands in exasperation. 

I closed my eyes and focused on the housefly. When we were all bugs Erek picked us up and slipped us under the tarp that covered the cleaning supplies. Suddenly… 

VOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!!! We were blowing through the air. We were a human strapped to the bottom of a formula one car! We were the astronauts on a launching shuttle. We were on the vomit comet training at twice the speed of sound! It was incredible!

Picture the fastest thing that you've ever seen and multiply it by ten. You wouldn't even be close. Then, when I finally thought that I wouldn't be able to cope with the speed, Erek braked suddenly, causing sonic booms. I tumbled out of the handcart, landed on my head, and demorphed, sprawled in a heap. 

Erek winced. "Sorry, I didn't mean to send you tumbling there." 

Marco reeled. "That's okay." He fell over. 

Erek caught him. Marco smiled at him, looking a little green. "You sit down. Now, to make it look like a little miracle, I'll just disappear." Erek grinned, shimmering out of view. 

We slipped inside the hologram to wait and surprise Feralae. Sure enough, a pair of Harris Hawks came spiraling down out of the sky. I watched as Feralae and Alloran demorphed. Toby came swinging down out of the trees behind them, followed by a pair of young hork bajir. "Ready guys?" Jake asked.

"Ready." I whispered with a grin as wide as the Pacific Ocean. 

"Let's do it!" Rachel exclaimed. 

The hologram shimmered out. "SURPRISEEEEE!!!!" We all shouted at once. 

Feralae, Alloran, Toby, and the two young hork bajir jumped about a mile. "Cassie what?" Feralae took in the handcart filled with cleaning supplies and the emitter and lunch. "You, you picked all of this for me?" She asked. It was still raining lightly. The rain made her look so beautiful. She looked almost like she was wreathed in a halo of light and water. 

"We wanted to let you know that you weren't forgotten." Jake said, stepping forward to speak for all of us. "We came to help you fix the place up. I'd also like to introduce you to one of our friends, Erek the Chee." 

Erek extended a paw with an android smile, which looked remarkably, like when a dog smiles. "Pleased to meet you Feralae. I'm a chee, and android. In my native language it means friend."

"Pleased to meet you Erek." 

"I brought some housewarming gifts." Erek continued. "A holographic emitter to help you hide the cabin and a generator that has slightly more power than this place, so that you can have lights and such." He began to unload. 

So we got to work. Toby and her twin siblings Alda and Bara, both also seers, began to check the roof for leaks. We went inside and opened the door. I heard a thoughtspeak voice thunder. BEWARE MORTAL, THE WRATH OF THE GHOST OF THE CABIN!! YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR MEDDLING INTERFERANCE!! 

  
Jake instantly began to morph tiger. "Morph everybody!"

I was already started when. YOUR PITIFUL MORPHS HAVE NO EFFECT ON ME! I AM THE MONSTER MORE POWERFUL THAN ANY YEERK YOU HAVE EVER SEEN! I WILL CRUSH YOU WITH MY CLAWS!! 

Morphs? How could a ghost in a remote cabin possibly know anything about morphing and yeerks. I looked up, around me, trying to find the source of the noise. I saw a pair of eyes seem to glow in the dim light. I demorphed and aimed my flashlight up to the rafters. DON'T JUST STAND THERE FLICKING THAT LIGHT AROUND!

But I did anyway, and the rat ducked back into it's hole. "DAVID!" I called up. "Nice to see you again!"

The thoughtspeak voice became decidedly deeper. I KNOW NOTHING OF THIS HUMAN DAVID!! It boomed. THIS IS MY CABIN! MINE!

"Nice try David." Rachel rolled her eyes. "We know that it's you now." 

"Who's David?" Feralae asked, confused. 

  
"The traitor animorph." Jake explained grimly. "We tricked him into being trapped in rat morph. We couldn't kill him." 

No, so you abandoned me to a fate worse than death. David growled. Jake, I would rather have died than spend my life as a rat.

"And I would rather have trapped you than become a murderer." Jake answered up to the hole. "You would rather have died David? Maybe you don't think it's murder to kill somebody in morph, but I do." 

"We all do. David we came here because there's a girl in exactly your same position who's taking exactly the opposite approach." I explained. "And she wanted to live here." Toby was listening from the door. 

Are those controllers? David asked, meaning Toby and Alloran. 

"No, we freed them from the yeerks." I explained. "Or rather, Toby was born into freedom and Feralae freed Alloran. But the yeerks took her mother and father. Her mother is now Visser 3, and her mother can morph." 

David whistled appreciatively. Oh alright, she can stay. I'm warning you though, this place is a pigsty.

"That's okay." I told him. "We brought things to fix it." 

Oh. I have got to see this. David scrambled out of his hole and took up a perch on a beam. 

We hauled in the cleaning supplies. Feralae and I took up the brooms. The cabin was filled with old leaves and dust and even a little owl poop and pellets. We found an owl nest in the attic loft and left it. The owl had flown away when it saw us coming. Marco and Jake began cleaning the windows. Tobias morphed human and helped Toby and the twins with the roof, using shingles made of bark slabs. Ax, Alloran, and Erek clucked over the generator and holographic emitter. 

This technology is amazing. Alloran said with awe as he looked over the generator. My wife Jahar would cut off her right arm just to have one look at this thing.

"Well we have had centuries to perfect it." Erek said smugly.

David chased other rats and spiders around for awhile, until we gave him a job cleaning the details in the furniture and the corners. The twins finished the roof and went to the stream for water to put in the pump. The pump was one of those old kinds where in order to get it to work you needed to pour water into it. After that Feralae and Rachel and I took up the mops and buckets and began to clean the floor. Then Feralae taught us a method of polishing floors. We stood on opposite sides of the room and ran across the floor, meeting in the middle. 

We moved the furniture up to the loft first. Feralae, Tobias and Alloran acquired a barn owl that we found up in the rafters. The owl had to be kicked out unfortunately. It flew off in a huff. Marco and Ax morphed cobra and rattle snake to chase the rats out of their holes. We agreed that David could stay, but most rats could carry diseases like Haunta Pulmonary Syndrome, which was dangerous. We couldn't exactly take Feralae to the hospital, so we had to try and keep her as healthy as possible. 

Once the floor was clean we moved the furniture down. Feralae threw out the old mattress and blankets. She had her own and she didn't want to sleep on something so musty. The rain had stopped by now, so we took the old dresses out to the trough in the yard to be washed. Marco and Jake helped clean out the trough. Alloran tested the water with one hoof. It works. He assured us. The water will be safe to wash with. 

The dresses were washed and hung out to dry. By that time the boys had brought the furniture outside to be refinished. We all rolled up our sleeves. Feralae proved to be more adept at this than we were. I figured she'd learned the skill from her father. We left the furniture to dry while we whitewashed the walls. We opened all the windows for the fumes to go out and began polishing the floor. 

The furniture dried and we brought it back in. The books had been stored in some old crates that we'd found. We hung the dresses up in an old wardrobe, put the books back on the shelf. The bed-frame was left for now. The cabin looked amazing. 

We went down to the basement of the house and found a lot of barrels. They had once contained flour and things like that. Now they smelled of rot and mold. We could clean them out later. Feralae also unearthed cloth of different kinds. It was actually in pretty good condition. We also found nails, knives and other things that were non-perishable. We saved the cloth, but the food stores had to be gotten rid of. The smell here is almost overpowering. Alloran shivered. Horrible the conditions these people lived in. How could they expect to live like that, with that smell?

I never go down here. David commented. It smells too much, and trust me, this rat has an excellent sense of smell. He was sitting on Feralae's shoulder. What are you going to do with all of this? 

"It's getting late. Why don't we tackle all of this tomorrow?" I suggested. 

Makes sense. Thanks for the cheezits by the way. David said, munching on it. We did a lot of work for one day. 

"We will continue working on the roof." Toby said calmly. "Erek and I have no place to go ne? We will continue working. Erek, I would like your opinion of our new watch and communications platforms." 

I will stay as well. Alloran said with a sigh. I do not get along well with Toby. And I do not feel welcome among the hork bajir. Perhaps in a few years, if we win the war, but I doubt it. I will be back in about one Earth hour. I must feed. 

The others morphed bird of prey and caught a dying thermal. David went out to forage. He knew a raspberry patch nearby he said. That left us together. "Feralae…" I said softly. "I'm not sure what it is about you. I just get this warm feeling in the pit of my stomach." 

She turned to me, startled. "You Cassie? Don't you like Jake?" 

I blinked, surprised. "What makes you say that?" 

"Well…" She said with a smile, looking out over the woods. "It's the way you two look at each other, like there's a little secret that only you two know, it's the look of lovers." 

I sat in silence. "You… I mean I…" I had to do it. I had to know. I stood up and walked over to Feralae. I pulled her lips down to mine in a kiss. 

I had meant it to be short, tender. But I felt a sort of jolt of sensation run through me. Feralae opened her mouth in surprise. I slid my tongue in, whimpering softly. Oh gods, and I thought that Jake was a good kisser? Who cared about Jake right then? Our tongues twined in harmony. 

I suddenly realized what I was doing. I pulled back, flushing deeply. "What… what did I do?" I gasped. "Oh Gods…" I turned and ran. 

I remembered a song that my mother used to listen to in the car. 

__

The sign says do not enter  
No trespassing allowed  
With visions of redemption  
I walk against the crowd

I could not believe that I had just kissed a girl. And what was worse was that I liked it. I mean how could I have betrayed Jake like that? I mean, he'd be so angry at me wouldn't he?

__

  
The sun is white with envy  
Confusion on the ground  
Breathing soft and holy  
Temptation's only sound

I didn't morph. I just ran. The others would be so upset. I mean, who wouldn't be? Jake would be upset for cheating on him. Rachel wasn't exactly homophobic, but I knew that she'd be upset. I mean, her best friend kissed a girl?_  
  
A demon's day in madness kissed  
I swear I never had it like this  
Forbidden yet I cannot resist  
_

Was what I did truly wrong? I mean, it felt so right! How could it be wrong? 

__

  
Shocked in silent trances  
Our eyes search just to know  
What makes flesh and body hunger  
For another burning soul

I tried to imagine the other's faces when they heard that I had kissed a girl. At least it was a member of the group. Marco would make some kind of smart remark. Jake would be angry at me, I just knew it. I saw Rachel's look of shock. I saw Tobias' burning gaze. I imagined Ax peering curiously at me. He would try to understand, but I knew that he wouldn't. Alloran might, but who knew with him? He was new. David would be a huge jerk.

Conscience quiet pleading  
In the corner of my eye  
But seeing is believing  
All consequences fly  


And Feralae, should I just tell her to forget it? I wasn't a… a lesbian. I mean… but it had felt right. How could I lie to her? I imagined Feralae's disappointed expression. I couldn't lie to her, I couldn't lie to myself. No way. It was one thing to lie to one's parents, but to a teammate?

__

  
A demon's day in madness kissed  
I swear I never had it like this  
Forbidden yet I cannot resist  


I decided to keep it to myself. But I knew that I would eventually have to choose between Feralae and Jake. 

That didn't make me feel any better. 

__

  
With fever I persist  
The rages of your kiss  
My reckless heart in fist  
And I cannot resist  


No, I would keep this to myself, test the waters, and see if they'd be upset. Then I'd break up with Jake. I'd break the news to him privately. But I had to figure it out myself first. 

__

  
A demon's day in madness kissed  
I swear I never had it like this  
Forbidden yet I cannot resist 

I morphed to horse, the morph that started it all, and I ran. I ran from the one person I couldn't run from.

Me.


	10. Long, long day

****

The Refugee

__

Chapter 9- Feralae

I stared after Cassie, not knowing what to make of her. My 'Gaydar' had gone off when I'd met this group, but I hadn't suspected Cassie. She was happy with Jake wasn't she?

I actually walked home that night. David had decided to stay in his nest because of the chilly weather. I told him I'd see him tomorrow, left him some cheezits, and walked down the mountain to the hork bajir valley. The hologram was left up and Alloran had decided to stay the night to keep watch. 

I made it to bed. The hork bajir were gathering around a campfire for the night. I didn't even bother. I flopped down on the bed, but sleep didn't come. I sighed, leaning back in the bed. Jag and Escalade curled up on the bed with me, keeping me warm. 

I slept finally. But it wasn't sound. I kept reliving my parent's capture, begging the past me to be careful! Watch out! Don't leave any loopholes! 

But what's past can't be changed. What could be changed was my present, and my future. The Animorphs were going to arrange for their Chee Doppelgangers to take over. They'd help with the move and rest up for the mission on Saturday. It was a week away. A whole week. 

The dream went dark. I saw the Ellimist approaching. **IT WILL BE ALRIGHT.** He told me. **IT WILL BE ALRIGHT FOR BOTH OF US. **I felt his sadness. I felt his grief. 

I woke up slowly. Jag was licking my face. "Hey boy." I said sleepily. 

"Are you ready to go Feralae?" Asked one of the twins, Alda. She was bouncing up and down on the tips of her toes. "What will you do? What is that thing?" She pointed to the dogs and the birds. 

So I introduced Alda to the animals. She laughed at the name Jag. Escalade was another unusual word. "What is an Escalade?" She asked. 

"It's a kind of car. Jag is short for another kind of car, a Jaguar. Then there's Cadillac, which is a kind of car. There's also the Border Collies Firebird and Thunderbird. And mother's Great Dane is called Pontiac. Her puppies are Grand Am and Grand Prix." 

"They're all named for cars?" Asked Alda as I pulled a towel and bar of soap out of the pile of plastic bags. "What are those things?" 

"A towel and soap." I explained. "Humans use them to clean themselves. Do you know where the nearest lake is?" 

"Yup, this way."   


I did not consider a five-foot deep beaver pond a good place to wash. I was lucky that the soap was organically made by one of my mother's suppliers. As it was I'd probably have to order some through Erek. Alda followed me to the pond, yammering questions. I rolled my eyes, answering them as patiently as I could. Then Bara did a cannon ball into the pond, causing me to sputter on pond water. "BARA!" 

"Whoopsee sorry sorry!" Bara chattered. He dove under water. That was when I noticed that the towel was precariously perched on the bank, a mere inches from the water. I screeched and barely managed to save it from a nastily wet fate. "Why no clothes?" Bara asked. "You have strange lumps on chest!" 

I flushed very deep red. "Because I'm bathing Bara and I was HOPING not to have guests!" He sputtered. I frog kicked to the bank and climbed up the bank. 

"No join?" Bara and Alda asked, giving me the hork bajir version of a childish pout. 

"NO JOIN!" I snapped, wrapping the towel around my chest. "I don't like being intruded on when bathing. It's this thing that we humans have with privacy. I'll be back out in a moment." 

The twins seemed to have clung to me all morning. I finally lost them after breakfast by morphing and flying to the cabin. Jara Hame, Toby Hame and Ket Halpak were swarming over the roof of the stables there with extra planks that they'd made from fallen trees. The warm weather had left it in pretty good condition, but the roof was half caved in. A group of four adult hork bajir was discussing where to get the bark for the roof and the beams for the rafters. 

David was perched on the huge hole created by the collapsed beam. Okay, I think it's gonna take about twenty feet long by ten inches as a support beam and cross beams extending about four feet beyond the edge of the hole. He slid down the drainpipe.

When they presented me with the timbers to be used. I pointed to this, or that, and we were working on the beams themselves when Alloran, Ax, and Tobias flew in. Alloran had acquired my Harris Hawk. It would be a good morph, because Harris Hawks were social birds. He'd be able to fly in close proximity to me when we were flying without suspicion. I also think that to some degree he was afraid of being captured again. If that were the case he wouldn't want to have a morph more powerful than the others, like Lexus, my Golden Eagle. The other Animorphs flew in from the city. They'd gone ahead with camping equipment. This time it had been Mr. Tidwell who'd helped. They'd mentioned him as a yeerk insider. 

I waved. Hi everybody! 

Hi Feralae! They called down. 

No answer from Cassie. I wasn't surprised. I mean she was probably struggling. Let her struggle. Sexuality is the one thing that you need to figure out for yourself you know? Take if from a bonafide lesbian, you don't fool around with a person's sexuality. 

I waited for her to say something as she demorphed. The other animorphs joined me as I explained what was going on. "They've cleared out most of the debris. " I explained as we met outside. "They've also picked dead, dried trees to use for supports. It will be tough, but David and Toby think that they can repair the barn and the fences around it. I don't want to have the animals here though. David might upset them and vice versa. Toby has volunteered to block off some grazing land for the animals. I just want Jag and Escalade with me…" 

Jag… David chuckled. I mean, I had a cat named Megadeth and a cobra named Spawn, but I have never met a person who's animals were named after cars! He laughed. 

I laughed too. "That was the effect I was hoping for." 

Cassie just sighed. 

"What's wrong Cassie?" Rachel asked. "Feeling sick?" 

"It's nothing Rachel." Cassie answered. 

"Don't bother her Rachel. She'll tell you when she's ready." Toby answered. "Okay. We've got the beams together. The sides of the barn have already been repaired, we were up at dawn doing it. We need to move the beams into place. I'm thinking hork bajir morphs, and Marco and Feralae's gorilla." 

"Makes sense." Jake was watching the picture that David was drawing in the dust with his claws. 

This is what it looks like from above. And Jake, I wouldn't try going up there. The roof is highly unstable. Maybe a bird could make it, but if you get within about two feet from the edge of the hole in human form, and you'd fall a looooong way. David said calmly. You'll have to repair it from above first. 

"We're already working on a latice work to support the roof. David had a pretty good design." Toby said calmly. "He may have been a traitor, but he's a smart one." 

David ignored her, then climbed up my leg onto my shoulder. Tobias was standing on Rachel's head. That was when Escalade happily landed on Tobias' back. 

Tobias jumped. YAH! WHAT IS IT DOING!! He demanded. 

"Backstanding." I chuckled. "It's something that Harris Hawks do to stay cool. The one on the bottom has the most shade. I've seen pictures of up to six of them standing like that." 

He almost gave me a heart attack!

So he's like the groupie of the bird world isn't he? David asked, looking up at them. 

"Either that or Rachel looks like a blonde cactus to him!" Marco joked. 

You know, I could almost get used to this. Is it alright if I acquire this guy? Tobias asked. I mean, what you said about Harris Hawks earlier is true right? 

"It's what the Falconry instructor back home said." I answered. "Harris hawks are the easiest birds to train because of their social nature. He's even seen some of them swarm a deer." 

Cool! I think I could get along with this guy just fine, as long as he doesn't invade my territory. 

We got to work on the barn, but it was slower going than the house. By then Ket Halpak was working on washing the barrels and crates that we'd unearthed. 

Escalade followed Tobias everywhere. I guess its because Red Tails look so much like Harris Hawks. Tobias liked it at first, but got a bit annoyed after awhile. So I took Escalade and sent him back to the cave. 

But finally, between me, Toby, Jara, and Marco, we got the two replacement posts up and the roof lattice hung between them. David carried messages for us up and down the barn poles. Finally, Marco and I made it to the roof. Hey Marco. I said in private thoughtspeak. Something happened last night.

What? He asked. It was almost funny to see a gorilla with nails in his teeth, hammering down hork bajir manufactured shingles. These did not fit in with the original barn. They were made of thin strips of wood taken from just beneath the bark layer of an elm tree that was dying of Dutch Elm Disease. They needed a way to take the wood away from the Valley. This gave them the opportunity. The stump would later be burned by the hork bajir back in the valley. 

Well, Cassie and I were talking, and I'm not sure what happened, but suddenly she walks over and kisses me. I said in private thoughtspeak. 

Marco almost fell off the roof. You're kidding? Cassie a Lesbian? I just can't parse it.

Niether could I. I told her. But maybe she's bi? I don't know. All I know is what she did. No I don't want this repeated. Just us. 

I figured, seeing as you're, we're both, in the closet. Marco let out a thoughtspeak sigh before taking a fresh grip on the hammer. This may cause problems.

Gee you think? I asked. I'm not stupid, and unlike David did when he was chased out, I didn't say, 'Oh poor me.' If I had done the pity party bit I would be a rat too now. But you know, here I am. 

I didn't say that. But you know, you do have a point. 

So we don't say anything? I asked. 

Damn right I won't. Marco answered. 

We finished the roof and painted waterproof finish in it. The hork bajir pushed pine sap between the slats of the roof. We slid down and demorphed. "That's done. Now the basement." Toby and Ket followed us down with torches to the basement. We lit candles and proceeded in the dark. 

Erek came by with an electric light and a generator to assist with the cleaning. We cleaned out the basement in a similar manner to the upper floors. The crates were adequately stored, but the barrels had to be dismantled. I'd burn their wood for firewood and maybe rework the wrought iron. I could use them as wheels maybe. 

We headed down to the hork bajir valley that evening to bathe. The girls went first, then the boys. David was actually happy to be back with reasonably intelligent beings. Erek did not go. He preferred to keep his cover, and there was a Sharing Meeting that night. 

Cassie, Rachel, and I dove into the waters of the Beaver pond. Many of the girl hork bajir joined us. It was the girls that I didn't mind, but if Bara pulled off one more cannon ball. "I allowed to come?" Alda asked plaintively. 

"Of course Alda, but no boys." 

"Males no come why?" Alda asked, slipping in next to Rachel. 

"Because males have different body parts that's why Alda." I said as I came up to the top. 

"Anybody got any soap?" Rachel asked, shaking out her hair. 

"Over by my towel. It's wrapped up in a washcloth. Don't let the younger hork bajir near it. One of them tried to eat it." I told her. "It's organic, made to break down in the environment."

"Okay. I won't ask." Rachel rolled her eyes. 

Cassie chuckled, then ducked under the water to rinse off. 

"Come here Cassie! I'll wash your hair." Rachel offered. "This stuff smells excellent!" 

"Don't let Ax near it, he'll probably do the same thing." Cassie joked. "Try to eat it I mean." 

"That is bad for him?" Alda asked, sniffing at the bubbles. 

"Eating soap is poison Alda. That and the fact that it's really disgusting." I chuckled. "Come here and have a whiff. Humans use soap to wash with." 

"Hork bajir use sap. My mother mother remembers the sap of the stoola tree that she mixed with leaves back on the hork bajir world." 

I smiled and sang as I scrubbed_. "I will crawl through my past/ over stones blood and glass/ in the ruins/ I will reach under the fence/ as I try to make sense/ In the ruins…"_

To my surprise Cassie joined in. _"But if I am to heal/ I must first learn to feel/ In the ruins…" _

"I've never heard that one." Rachel commented. "Who was it?" 

"Melissa Etheridge." I answered. "I absolutely love her music. It's so sad. It's soft and moody." 

"Remember _Talking to My Angel_?" Cassie asked. 

"Oh I love that one! Sing it with me? Please Cassie?" I begged. 

__

"Don't be afraid

Close your eyes

Lay it all down

Don't you cry

Can't you see I'm going?

Where I can see the sun rise

I've been talking to my angel

And he said that it's alright." Cassie began. 

__

"I've always had to run

I don't know just why

Desire slowly smoking

Under the Midwest sky

But there's something waiting out there

That says I have to try…" I sang. 

Then at once, _"I've been talking to my angel_

And He said that it's alright." 

"This town thinks I'm crazy."

"They just think I'm strange."

"Sometimes they would own me

Sometimes they wish I'd change." I looked into Cassie's eyes, into Rachel's trying to express, what was so inexplicable. How to make Cassie feel better about last night? How to make peace with Rachel, who would most certainly be angry. 

And also, how to make peace with myself, with my new reality as an Animorph?

__

"But I can feel the thunder

Underneath my feet

I sold my soul for freedom

It's lonely but it's sweet."

Cassie smiled, joining in. 

"Don't be afraid

Close your eyes

Lay it all down

Don't you cry

Can't you see I'm going?  
Where I can see the sunrise

I've been talking to my angel

And he said that it's alright."

Rachel clapped. Alda looked at me curiously. "What is that?" She asked. 

"It's music Alda." Rachel answered. She, like Cassie, Alda, and myself shook off the song with difficulty. Ket Halpak and Toby Hame, who had also been present, looked troubled. Toby was interested, but I realized that hork bajir intelligence limited them to stories, probably not songs. An entire world without music? I could barely tolerate life her on Earth with talk radio!

"Teach music?" Alda begged. "Teach music please?" 

"I suppose I could. Tell you what, when I finish the house you can come up and visit and I'll teach you music. Okay? We've just got a lot of things to do."

Marco walked backwards over to the pond. "Are you girls done gossiping yet?" 

Rachel threw a rock at him. "Give us a second!" 

I chuckled, crawling out of the pond and drying off. I slipped into my morph outfit and shook out my hair before putting on my trademark leather jacket. 

Jake, Marco, Tobias, Ax, and Alloran with David on his shoulder passed us. Jara and Bara leapt straight from the trees into the water. Tobias took the time to morph. David slipped into the shallows of the beach. I'm actually taking a BATH! He exclaimed. I'm here! I have… friends. I understood his hesitance in using the word friend. It was the same hesitance that Alloran would have used. A former enemy turned friend. That was a reason to be shy alright. 

I dug through my pack for a penny whistle. "Right. Alda, this is a whistle." I managed to get through _Taps_ and _Hot Cross Buns_ before exhaustion took over. I went to bed. Cassie pulled up her sleeping bag next to mine. "Feralae?" She asked softly. 

I didn't want to answer. I didn't want… "Yeah Cassie?" 

"How did… I mean… I'm sorry about last night." 

I smiled up at the ceiling of the cave in the dark. "That's okay." 

"You aren't angry?" She asked. 

I felt my throat choke up, tears filling my eyes in the dark. "No. I'm not at all." 

I heard Alda playing with the whistle in the dark near the campfire. 

"Great. Thanks…" Cassie yawned and rolled over. 

We were asleep before Rachel came in to say goodnight.


	11. Uncovering a piece of history

****

The Refugee

__

Chapter 10- Feralae

Cassie was a lot friendlier towards me after that. But there was no time to be friendly. David had unearthed some kind of weird machine in the workshop behind the cabin. The most recent date in Caroline's journal was from around the turn of the century, shortly before World War 1. The family had apparently died out during the flu epidemic of the era. So there Marco and I were, shoving open the leaves of the workshop. Almost… The door snapped back with a BAM! 

David slipped from my shoulder and scuttled over to a corner where the weirdest machine stood covered in junk. What's this? 

I lumbered over to it, a huge gorilla. It's a Stanley Steamer. I said, with reverence. 

"A what?" Jake asked. 

"Isn't that a vacuum cleaner?" Asked Rachel skeptically. 

It's also a type of car. It was the earliest car actually, before the Model-T. These were amazingly power efficient. But they were rare. The Stanley Brothers weren't interested in improving production. They turned out only a few hundred of them a year. Remember the movie Sea Biscuit? The seen where what's his name had to fix a car and he took it apart and put it back together again? That was a Stanley Steamer! They're incredibly valuable. I'm surprised that they hadn't sold this! I exclaimed. 

Sea Biscuit? Asked David.

"A famous racehorse, they made a movie about him." Rachel commented. "My mother took us to see it. Maybe I should bring you David." 

Will Tobias kill me if I call it a date? David asked, with a thoughtspeak pout.

"Hey, don't push your luck!" Rachel said mockingly. 

What happened to the Stanley Brothers? Asked Ax.

They were out produced by Henry Ford's Model-T. I answered. The T didn't out perform the Steamer though. But there were so few of them and so many Model-T's that it didn't matter. The Steamers cost a lot too. The Stanley brother's business now makes, as Rachel said, Vacuum cleaners. I explained. I still have my history book Ax. I'll let you borrow it if you want. 

I would be glad to. Ax answered. He and Alloran moved forward to look at the machine. 

Amazing. It appears to be made of a single steam engine. Alloran mused. We stopped using them a long time ago, but they were incredibly efficient for moving people and goods.

"We used steam engines for less than a century until they were replaced with diesel fuel and electricity." 

WHAT?? Alloran demanded. Less than a century? It took us over two hundred years for Andilites to go from steam to fuel!

I finished demorphing and grinned. "Surprised? We were fifty years from primitive atmospheric flight to orbiting our moon. Took us less to go from atomic bombs to using the atom to create electricity. We still have nukes, but nobody uses them anymore. Of course, we had Albert Einstein for that, so that says something."

You humans learn incredibly fast. Alloran commented. This machine is amazing. He said, poking one of the valves.

"There's some kind of weird pipe over here." Marco pointed to it. 

"That's a glass pipe. It looks pretty old. But you need a forge…"

"Over there." Marco pointed out. 

Glass pipe? Asked Alloran.

"We used to blow glass, probably back when this place was first built. But blowing glass is incredibly dangerous." I explained. "It causes all kinds of diseases in the lungs."

Incredible the things you humans come up with. Alloran commented. 

"You think America is incredible, wait till you see Leonardo Da Vinci." I grinned. "Now there was a master craftsman!" 

I went over to inspect the forge. It hadn't been used since closed to the Civil War. That was my guess. In those days metal work was a man's job. Caroline would have had to shut down the forge. She'd probably done sewing, and some light mining. That would explain why she'd had all the cloth. 

The other Animorphs were exclaiming over the car, but I was happier with the forge. It seemed almost like a blessing, because the forge there reminded me of home. I wondered absently if this was what our house would look like in a hundred and fifty years. Too bad I wouldn't be around then. 

We got to work hauling everything out. Erek helped us sandpaper the tools to get the rust off. The boys got to work polishing the floor. Marco, Toby and I pushed the steamer out into the yard and scrub off the rust with a hork bajir made mixture of sand and horsetails. Then we carefully washed it down with a morph of Alloran's that sprayed water. Alloran explained that it synthesized water from air that it absorbed through it's skin. It was gross, but it got the job done. 

The boys came to tell us that the floor was done, but the tools still hadn't been scrubbed completely clean. The frame of the rope bed still had to be rewoven. The iron and cloth that had been in storage had to be stacked and stored. Wood had to be chopped. We pushed the now sparkling Stanley Steamer back into the workshop and wolfed down a dinner of roast fish on a stick (Cassie's treat,) before once again retreating to the Valley and sleep. 

We were up with the sun that day as all of us returned to the now Herculean effort to restore the compound. David took a line of synthetic rope through the bed frame, we went through the tools, scrubbing away rust and wear until it was gone. Even David helped. The rat's claws were a lot similar to a raccoon's. Tobias morphed human to help. We sorted them, iron ingot, scrap, tools, and hardware. The scrap iron and ingots would have the rust melted and worked off of them. But tools and hardware had to be sparkling clean in order to work. 

We finished about lunchtime and started gathering wood for the cook-stove in the cabin. David and Tobias gathered kindling. The hork bajir found at least half a dozen dead trees. Together we chopped the wood, I piled it up the way that dad had taught me to and soon we had a respectable two cords of wood in the shed out behind the cabin. I kept going, and that night, before we headed back to the valley I grinned. "Tomorrow is moving day." 

See you! David said cheerfully as he climbed into his hole.

"See you!" I said, looking up at him. 

Tomorrow is moving day. Then we have Saturday and the mission. Cassie said thoughtfully. It's been an eventful week hasn't it? She asked me, looking over as we flew. 

I was in Harris Hawk morph. Yes, it's amazing how time flies.

Feralae… I… 

I smiled inwardly. Yes?

Feralae what do I do? Cassie asked in private thoughtspeak. About that kiss? About ME? I liked kissing you. I like Jake too… what do I do?

Cassie that's for you to decide. I'm not the one who asked you to kiss me after all. I don't know, maybe you're bisexual. I suggested. 

I don't know. Cassie said helplessly. I don't know what to do! 

It's okay Cassie. I said reassuringly. But you need to figure it out for yourself. I can't do the figuring for you.

Cassie found me later playing the guitar that I had saved from the house. "_Longing for home again, Home is a feeling I buried in you… I'm alright, I'm alright. It only hurts when I breathe…_" I ignored her. "_I can't ask for things to be still again_

No I can't ask if I could walk through the world in your eyes, longing for home again, home is a feeling I buried in you."

"Feralae?" Cassie asked gently. "May I join you?" 

I stopped, relaxing my grip on the guitar chord. "Sure." I took up a fresh grip on the guitar. I thought for a moment. "So you walked with me for awhile, bared your naked soul, and you told me of your plan, how you would never let them know…"

Cassie smiled, then shivered in the night. I wrapped the other half of my blanket around her. "Come on, share the warmth." 

"I never heard that song." Cassie said with one of her shy smiles. 

"This one is for you." I smiled, striking up the chords. 

__

"Why did you steal the matches? 

From the one room motel

Once they gave you answers

Now they give you hell

They will never understand

They wonder where did they go wrong

How could you be so selfish?

Why can't you get along?

And as you pray

In your darkness

For wings to set you free

You are bound

To your silent legacy."

Cassie listened softly as I sang. I was careful not to jostle her under the confines of the blanket. She was so beautiful. It wasn't Rachel's eye catching beauty. It was more subtle than that, serene.

"You've seen it in the movies  
And you've heard it on the street  
Craving the affection  
Your blood is full of heat  
They don't listen to your reasons  
As original as sin  
Deny all that you feel  
And they will bring you home again  
  
And as you pray in your darkness  
For wings to set you free  
You are bound to your silent legacy."

She was listening intently. Cassie knew, I realized, that I was using the song to sort of… talk to her… to tell her what I didn't want to say to her. _  
_

"Your body is alive  
But no one told you what you'd feel  
The empty aching hours  
Trying to conceal  
The natural progression  
Is the coming of your age  
But they cover it with shame  
And turn it into rage  
  
And as you pray in your darkness  
For wings to set you free  
You are bound to your silent legacy."

We were close, so close. It was a closeness that I wanted to hang on to. Cassie had comforted me when my parents had been taken. I trusted her as much as I trusted Marco. Marco was the uh… experienced queer. I was just the tentative virgin who had never had a girl friend in her life, never kissed until this Animorph, this dark, and beautiful and serene Animorph, had climbed the stairs into my life. 

"You are digging for the answers  
Until your fingers bleed  
To satisfy the hunger  
To satiate the need  
They feed you on the guilt  
To keep you humble keep you low  
Some man and myth they made up  
A thousand years ago  
  
And as you pray in your darkness  
For wings to set you free  
You are bound to your silent legacy." 

This part of the song was supposed to be loud, defiant, angst ridden. Angst I did do, volume and defiance just would not be appropriate. I didn't want to attract attention. And so I gave the song's solution, not as a mother to a child, but as a friend to a friend._  
_

"Mothers tell your children  
Be quick you must be strong  
Life is full of wonder  
Love is never wrong  
Remember how they taught you  
How much of it was fear  
Refuse to hand it down  
The legacy stops here  
  
Oh my child..." 

I put aside the guitar and Cassie leaned gently into my grip. "That's how it is Cassie. You asked, that's how it is." I said softly. 

She looked up at me. "Feralae, I… I feel so warm, so alive with you."

"Jake will be upset won't he?" I asked worriedly. 

"He will, but I am what I am, there's really not much he can do about me." Cassie said softly. She leaned her head against my chest. "What exactly do I do?" 

"What do you mean?" I asked, blinking in surprise. 

"Feralae, what do girls do in bed?" Cassie asked. 

I jumped. "You're thinking of that _already_?" I asked with a chuckle. 

"I'm just curious." 

"Well, we kiss, and we use sex toys, and we use our hands and our lips, basically anything that doesn't require a dick." I answered. 

"Watch you language!" Cassie protested with a mock scowl.

"Well it's true isn't it?" I asked impudently. "I mean we do use anything that doesn't require a dick. It's not my fault that people turned it into a dirty word." I grinned. Then I had an idea. "Here." I looped something from around my neck. "My father made this for me. It's a labrys. They're a symbol of the Amazons of Greek Mythology, and of Artemis and Demeter. They were worn for protection, and recently they've become a symbol of lesbian sex. Wear it in good health Cassie." I slipped it gently around her neck. 

Cassie tucked it under her shirt. "Thanks." She murmured, leaning up to kiss me.

I didn't hesitate to return it. Rachel was a warrior, but she wanted Tobias. Cassie wanted me. That was enough. 

We sat up there for awhile, looking up at the stars. But we went to bed down in the caves.


	12. Moving Day

****

The Refugee

__

Chapter 11- Cassie

Moving day. Marco, Alloran, Ax and Feralae were putting the pieces of the wagon together. I was loading Feralae's backpacks and other pieces of luggage onto the llama's and other pack animals. The other's were putting everything back together. They used hork bajir made rope, which was made from vines. I could only hope that they hadn't harvested poison ivy!

But finally we finished. Feralae shunted Beemur and another shire back into the handlebars. The horses were huge. That shire alone could probably pull twice it's weight. Beemur was a cross between a percheron and a shire. Beemur stood at about seventeen hands high. Each hand is four inches. Imagine that. I mean this thing was huge. The record for tallest horse is held by a shire at nineteen hands. 

Feralae was a very accomplished animal handler. 

The hork bajir helped us load and secure the load. Each of us Animorphs, plus Toby, Ax, and Alloran held the halter of a llama, vicuna, or alpaca. Then we started up the path to the cabin. Jaguar, Pontiac, Grand Am and Trans Am followed us, trotting at the wheels of the wagon and providing help when an animal strayed from it's path. 

After about an hour, we found the cabin. The twins had run ahead and opened the barn door for the wagons and animals. Feralae would leave the wagon where it was and bring the animals back down to the valley. The hork bajir were already working on a way to keep the animals from wandering off. 

We stopped the pack animals at the door. The twins carried the luggage in and David slid down the rafters to join us. Hi! Took you long enough. Thanks for the cheezits Feralae, they were excellent! 

  
Feralae laughed. "You're welcome, David! Thanks for letting me stay."

Hey, I could use the company. A rat doesn't exactly get time to socialize. David joked. 

Feralae put David on her shoulder. Then we formed a chain and passed the bags along it. Toby carried in the futon and set it down next to where we were putting the bags. Within ten minutes the wagon was unloaded and Feralae and I were backing it into the barn. We lead the horses back down, with help from Jag, Pontiac, and attending puppies. Then we morphed and flew back up to the cabin. 

We demorphed and made it to the house. I set up the generator and hooked up the computer, heater, lights, television, and the radio. I turned on the dial to the local hip hop station. Ludacris blasted our ears as one by one we opened the bags. 

I folded my clothes into assorted trunks and wardrobes. Since the futon took up the most room, Marco and I morphed Gorilla and lifted the mattress up, up, way, way up! It landed on the bed with a **BOOM**! We demorphed and Feralae, Rachel, and I whipped out some of blankets from the bundles. Sheets fit the mattress perfectly and we layered a couple of blankets on top of that. I folded the rainbow blanket at the foot of the bed and piled the pillows at the end. David happily dropped from the rafters onto the bed. 

WHEEEE!!! He laughed as be bounced on the bed. I haven't seen a clean bed in ages! 

Our attention was turned next to the newly cleaned shelves. I pulled out my books and binders, as well as my movies, CD's and DVD's. I stacked them on what room was left on the shelves. CD's, DVD's and movies went on one shelf. The next one had books that I had brought. The one after that had my journals. The next highest shelf had Caroline's books, and the final shelf had everything else. 

Feralae brought down the crates and stacked them as more shelves. However, instead of books, other equipment such as small tools, statues, jars of pencils, pens, and markers. A jar of beads, and other jars with other small, colorful structures were placed on them. Blank books and file folders were put in the other crates. 

What didn't fit in the crates was put in the desk drawers. Feralae pulled a portable range out of the pile of things, along with a crock-pot, a plug in grittle, a toaster oven, a microwave and one of those small, college freezers. She plugged these into Erek's generator. The food appliances went in what was obviously the kitchen in the small, two room cabin. 

Feralae sighed and sat back. "I'm not sure how I'm going to get food for this place." 

I can show you how to do that. Alloran said calmly. Simply do the Frolis Maneuver. 

"The what?" We all asked. 

Where you combine DNA of different individuals of the same species to create a new morph. Answered Alloran. It's quite simple really.

We all looked at Ax. "How simple?" Feralae asked. 

Relatively. He answered. 

Feralae turned and began unpacking dishes. "That could work. I'm not sure how I'm going to get food, but that could do it." 

"I'll order Kentucky Fried Chicken." Erek offered. "I don't need food, but I can see that your stomachs are growling. I'll be back in about ten minutes." He stepped outside and zoomed off. 

"I wish I could run that fast." Feralae said mournfully. She let out a totally fake, long suffering sigh. "That would be so cool!"

Erek came back in more like five minutes with a bag full of still steaming southern cooking. "I got it. Come on ya'll, sit down!" He said in a fake southern accent. 

"I say again, you guys get to have all the fun." Feralae sighed, pulling out a chair. 

We pulled up crates and chairs. Perhaps I should not morph to human. Ax suggested, as he and Alloran crouched in the Andilite version of a sitting position. 

"Um…" Feralae looked to us for an explanation. 

"Ax has trouble controlling the human sense of taste." I explained helpfully. "He once ate an entire tray of cinnabons." 

I did not know the precise size of human stomachs, and thus I ate too much. Ax explained. 

Alloran raised both stalk eyes skyward. Goddess help us. He rolled his eyes. 

I laughed and sat down, as Feralae dolled out the food. "Ax, as long as you leave some for leftover's you can." 

Ax brightened. Alloran was already morphing human. "Thank you very much Feralae." 

To both Ax and Alloran's credit, the meal went without incident, and now it was time for Feralae to create her promised disguise. She closed her eyes, focusing inward first, then she moved towards me. I shook her hand, and I felt myself getting sleepy as I went into the acquiring trance. She moved on to Marco next, Rachel then, and after that to Jake. Alloran acquired Feralae, then moved on down the row. 

They began to morph. Feralae's skin turned a darker olive. Her hair shortened, and became strawberry blonde and curly. Her eyes turned from black to green. She looked about fifteen or sixteen.

Alloran was morphing as well. His morph was almost identical to Feralae's, only male and slightly younger, about fourteen. 

Everybody clapped. "Great work!" I exclaimed. "Are you guys going to go out and get groceries now?" 

Feralae snatched up her wallet from on the desk, and set her watch. "I probably should."

"I'll demorph." Alloran said calmly. "It appears that Erek will have to carry her and the groceries. I may be too much to carry." 

"Not too much weight, but a little cumbersome. Maybe in a little while Alloran." Erek shouldered Feralae, opened the door, and took off. 

"I so totally wish I could do that." Rachel sighed. 

**__**

~Feralae~

We were out of there! OUT! OF! THERE! I'm talking some major g-forces! 

And almost as quickly we were at the nearest Safeway. "Thanks Erek." 

I started with fruits. I couldn't stand most veggies, but I put some token carrots, potatoes and green beans into the cart, not many, just enough for a couple of weeks. I'd freeze them later. 

Erek and I breezed down to the deli and waited for about fifteen minutes while the person filled our orders. I mean, it takes awhile to slice up half a pound of turkey right? I grabbed a couple of bags of hard rolls and a loaf of sourdough bread. 

We went past the fish counter. I do not celebrate Lent, so I would never need to go to the trouble of bringing fish all the way up into the mountains. I could catch them if I was that desperate. I also passed the meats section. The only thing I picked up was a pound of ground chuck. Alloran fed off the grass. I would not need much. Maybe I could share with Tobias or David, which would be about all the non-vegetarian guests that I would have. 

I started down the baking supplies aisle. I chose only one bread pan, a rolling pin, and a baking sheet. Then I picked up a two-pound bag of flour and a one pound bag of sugar and a single bag of chocolate chips. I grabbed a yeast package. I knew how to make a yeast culture from my grandmother. This would be child's play.

I bought a half-gallon of milk and a few eggs. I never drank milk. I never ate eggs. I did, however, need them if I was going to bake bread. I preferred to bake my own bread, there was something about the smell of bread that I found comforting. 

I bought strawberry jam and tomato sauce before turning down the freezer isle. I bought cheese, butter, and a pint of chocolate-chip-cookie-dough ice cream. But my watch went off, half an hour left in morph!

And so I nosed my cart up to the bathrooms. Erek stayed to guard it, putting up the hologram of an impatient mother. I turned and headed down the hall. 

Demorphing went without a hitch. I had remorphed and was coming out when I heard the voices. "Visser Three, I came to bring you the biobase report. Visser One has given the authorization for infestation. She'll be here tomorrow. The creatures are not only eminently suitable for infestation, their force field and bioengineering technology is incredible!"

"Right then fool. Your favorable report has just put me in a good mood. So here is what you tell Visser One. Tell her to wait for me at the Biobase. I will meet her at exactly five P.M. tomorrow. I will be coming by means of the primitive human transports called helicopters. If I am shot down, I will kill you first and the controller who shot me down next!"

"Yes Visser!" The controller shivered. 

The Visser walked past the door that was open a crack for me to hear. I hid behind it, shaking uncontrollably. Would she sense? Would she hear? Would she guess? My mother always had seemed to know where I was in the house. Would she see me with the eyes-in-the-back-of-her-head sixth sense that mothers always had? 

I shivered in abject fear as she walked down the hallway, but the Visser didn't see. I could only hope that Erek wasn't in his disguise, that he wasn't visible. I waited five minutes, and then I followed. Erek was waiting in his normal form. That was sensible enough, since he had fooled the yeerks into thinking that he was a controller. 

"Erek, did you hear what the Visser said?" I asked him. 

"I heard enough to know that the mission tomorrow is going to be Hell."


	13. War Council

****

The Refugee

__

Chapter 12- Feralae

"Tomorrow at five." Jake repeated, flopping down in the chair. 

"Yup." I answered. "Tomorrow at five. It would be nice if the Visser came and found the biobase a smoking crater, but the Chee are not allowed to make weapons and without anything short of a couple of bombs I don't think that's happening." 

"Feralae do you have a bash morph?" Rachel asked. 

"Yeah, Rhino, Elephant, and Cape buffalo. I have almost the entire zoo Rachel. I've got a pit viper. I've got a tiger. I've got a lion. I've got a gorilla, a jaguar, a cheetah, a kodiak bear, a polar bear, a leopard, a gray wolf, a laughing hyena, not to mention all three of the different breeds of dog that my family had, a llama, a horse, a peregrine, a harris hawk, and a golden eagle. And the beauty of it all is that the only morph that my mom knows I have for sure is a gorilla. She doesn't know about the hork bajir morph that I acquired either. And you know what the first thing that I did was when I got back? Caught a butterfly, a dragonfly, a cricket and a beetle and acquired them all. So now I've got four insect morphs as well. I can keep changing, keep her guessing, and she'll never know what morph I'll use next." I said, as I flipped the hamburgers onto the grill. 

I'd placed it in the fireplace. Nothing like fire-grilled burgers and my close encounter had made me hungry. "Oh I like mine with lettuce and tomato, Heinz fifty seven and French fried potatoes, big kosher pickle and a cold root beer. Oh good God-o-malley which way do I steer?"

Marco grinned wickedly. "You know, that's a strategy I could get to like." 

"You acquired a lion?" Asked Cassie dubiously. 

"Bad, bad, Leroy Brown

Baddest cat in the Gardens' town

Badder than old Big Jim

And meaner than even him!" I said, indicating Alloran happily. 

"You're kidding. You acquired Leroy?" Cassie asked, eyes wide. "That will make an impressive sight." 

"Who's Leroy Brown?" Jake asked. 

"A white lion at the Gardens who died of liver failure." Cassie explained. "Feralae was left alone with him for a few minutes before mother shoed us out." 

"There are such a thing as white lions?" Marco wondered. 

Ever hear of Kimba the White Lion? asked Tobias.

"What is Kimba the White Lion?" Asked Marco.

"The story that Disney stole to make the Lion King. It was a cartoon written by Dr. Osamu Tezuka. It was one of the first three manga too." I explained. "I have a video of it actually. The point is that white lions do occur, but they're so rare that the only ones currently alive are in captivity. The gardens had one and it died." I sighed and put a little bit of mom's patented blend of seasonings onto the burgers. 

How large is this white lion? Asked Alloran. 

"About the size of a large pony or a small horse. This guy was about up to my chest." I answered. "This thing is huge, and I have more practice with it than I do with an elephant or a rhino." 

"Lion it is then." Rachel said with a shrug. "Me, I'd rather go with my elephant."

Prince Jake, if you wish I can use one of my monster morphs. Alloran offered. I believe that the Jubba Jubba or the Eight Headed Fire Breather will work most suitably. 

"Yes, but Alloran they also make you a target." Cassie pointed out. "This may not be a mission for subtlety, but I think you'd be better off if Visser Three and Visser One didn't know that you had joined up with the 'Andilite Bandits.'"

Alloran nodded, a bizarrely human gesture. I suppose, but the day will come when, no matter what animal he morphs, Visser Three will see me as me, and he will scream in terror as my claws squeeze his throat. 

I shivered. My mother would probably be screaming as well. "How about an Elephant morph?" I suggested. "An elephant and a big cat would work perfectly, don't you think Alloran?" 

I suppose. Alloran sighed. But may I suggest that unless the big cat is vastly different from the lion and the tiger that I choose, perhaps, the Cape Buffalo instead, or some other morph that is not as vulnerable. I do not think that it is wise to use more than the two big cats at once. 

"Okay, so as soon as it gets dark, we fly to the Gardens and get Alloran a morph." Jake began, he broke off as I looked through a pile of backpacks for grilling gear. "What is it Feralae?"

"When did old reliable get here?"

"What?" Marco asked. 

I held up the blue back pack that I had dubbed old reliable. 

"Oh," I flushed. "Mr. Tidwell and your father gave it too me. Your father said that he wanted you to have it." 

"He's one of the yeerk peaceniks that you told me about right?" Feralae asked, digging through the bag. "OH!" She exclaimed, wordlessly lifting out several artifacts that I didn't recognize and a letter. "This looks like a dracon beam." She held up an andilite shredder.

That's a shredder. Alloran corrected. May I see? He opened the cartridge hole and gasped. Seeds! I recognize them, Illsipar, Ooka melon, Derrishoul, Therant, and there are some hork bajir trees as well, Siff, Narwin, and Stoola. This was quite a set up. I believe, Prince Jake…

"Don't call me Prince." 

That this shredder is rigged to work off of D-Cell batteries instead of power cartridges.

"Perhaps we should read the letter attached to it?" Cassie suggested pointedly. The boys had apparently forgotten manners. 

I began to read hands shaking like a leaf. "Dear Feralae,

Your name means Wild Wings in Latin, but in Andilite it means New Beginnings. There is a lot that I wish to tell you, but cannot because of the war. Mainly, I wish to tell you this; I am an andilite who has been trapped in human morph. Your andilite friends will recognize my name. My first name is Escafil. I was the one who created the morphing technology and set out the guidelines for it's use. I recommended the age of fourteen, because at age fourteen an andilite youth would be going on to advanced education. Fourteen human years is the andilite age of responsibility. 

My past on Earth is very long and twisted. When I first came to Earth I acquired the human morph of a young Irish Immigrant, Sean. He was only about five years old. But a matter of months later, as I was flying over their house, Sean's house caught fire. I dove in to try and save him. I morphed human. But I wasn't able to save him, and the smoke knocked me out. When I woke up, I was trapped. Out of guilt, I remained with Sean's human family for another three years, trapped in a life that was not mine, by guilt. I retrieved my small carry bag of belongings that had come with me to Earth, including the Morphing Cube that I have given you. I kept them hidden. You have them now. 

Three years later, My/Sean's parents died in a car crash. I was an orphan, the feelings of guilt should have been gone, and instead they intensified. I was adopted, as you know, by a Navajo couple. They taught me the art of raising, spinning, and weaving my own cloth. And with them I learned decorative metal work. I still practice these trades today. 

My yeerk, Loscar 243 will keep my secret. The yeerks will not gain the morphing power from me. Please, keep hope alive. Keep on living, keep on fighting. Do not let the yeerks have anything in this bag, including the Morphing Cube that I have given you. If anything, use it to expand the resistance.

Much Love,

Your Father Escafil…" 

I fell to my knees, shaking in shock. "Oh my Gods." 

The old coot. Alloran chuckled darkly. 

Ax shivered. The inventor of morphing technology, captured by the yeerks. He is a so called peacenik, but still. 

"We need to capture him." Marco stated. 

"Marco he said he wouldn't…" Cassie started. 

"Yeah, but remember the time that Jake got infested? Yeerks transfer from host to host, like if one of us were to change schools. If this Loscar were to be transferred, then Escafil's secret would be out. He's a security liability."

"But that would mean…" Cassie interjected. 

"We can always pull an Aftran if we need to Cassie." Rachel said placatingly. "I mean, he's a peacenik right? We give him a woodland morph, a powerful one, and he can join the hork bajir, he can be a guard or something. Or maybe a guide." 

"Maybe…" Cassie said softly. "But you're forgetting one thing." 

Alloran nodded. He would be an invaluable spy Marco. Living in the same household as Visser 3? Imagine the possibilities! I believe the human expression is, 'We would be all over his butt.' Although I have no idea what a 'butt' is, I do get the significance of the statement.

"SO WE'RE JUST GONNA LEAVE HIM??" I demanded. I realized absently that I had a light Irish accent. 

"Until there's the possibility of his yeerk being transferred, yes." Jake said calmly. "Think rationally Feralae!" Jake hissed.

"Jake you know how hard something like this is to do." Marco said gently. 

The sensible measure, Prince Jake, would be to pull Loscar and Escafil out of the current situation as quickly as possible. It is, for example, possible to stage an attack on Feralae's house and kidnap Loscar. Ax said calmly. Another Andilite controller is not tolerable. On the other hand, I can see the merit in what Alloran is saying. A spy living with Visser 3 is an incredible chance to find out what we normally would not have access to. 

"The risk is too great." Rachel stated. "I'm normally reckless, but even I think that this is over the line. What happens if Loscar IS transferred and we don't get there in time? The yeerks get their hands on morphing technology **AND** Mr. Tidwell slash Illim is toast **AND** Cassie's cover is blown, **AND** we are blown right along with her. I'm sorry Jake, but I flat out don't agree. Cassie is living right next door, RIGHT NEXT DOOR to Visser 3. That is incredibly dangerous. My view is that we capture Visser 3 and Loscar. We starve the Visser and pull an Aftran on Loscar and bring Feralae's parents into hiding." 

"How many times have we tried to do that?" Marco asked. "I've tried to free my mother. Jake has tried to free Tom, and what happened? This isn't just any controller, it's Visser 3! Rachel, we should stick with Loscar and Escafil! What do we do if they're found out??" 

"Fine, we stick with Loscar, but if we're found out, then Cassie will be the first that we evacuate." Rachel snapped. "But remember that I warned you!" 

"Okay, do we need a vote on this?" Jake asked. 

"I vote no." Cassie said calmly. "We're on the honor system here with Illim and Loscar. I don't want to go back on my word to them." 

"I vote yes." Rachel said vehemently. "Loscar is a security liability. We pull an Aftran on him and Visser 3 is left all alone in a big house. Loscar can't get in the way then if we decide ever to attack Visser 3 out right." 

"I vote no." Marco said calmly. "We shouldn't ask Feralae to make this decision so early. We asked David to turn against his parents and look what's happened to him." 

I vote no. We're inviting trouble this close to a major mission. Tobias pointed out. We don't need this right now. I'm sorry Feralae. Maybe we can consider this later, but we don't need this trouble with both Feralae and Alloran as newbies to the group.

Prince Jake, I vote no, for now. Unless something goes horribly wrong, Loscar is in a position to our advantage. 

I vote yes, Prince Jake. Ax said, drawing himself up. As long as Loscar is near Visser 3, as long as Escafil is within reach of Visser 3, we risk the ultimate betrayal, we risk losing our only edge, and for what? For information that may or may not be a help to us? I am sorry Marco, Tobias, Cassie, but I am pointing out the logical decision. 

May I vote Jake? David asked shyly. He'd been listening the whole time. 

"If you want to David." Jake said, looking up at the rafter where David watched us from his hole. 

I don't think that we should attempt an evacuation right now. But I think that as soon as we're finished with the Ketrans that we should definitely consider getting Feralae's father out. I agree with Ax. Escafil and Loscar are serious security liabilities. I wouldn't want to kill them And… and my parents are still controllers… given the chance, I would do anything to free them, even offer my life… 

"Feralae? Do you want to have a say in this?" Jake asked me gently. 

"Do it, we're looking at the long term. Loscar may not be a threat now, but later on he might cause us problems. I don't think that he's an immediate threat however." 

"Okay, that makes…" Jake counted off. "Great, a dead lock. We're not going anywhere with this. Okay look. We'll think about it, we'll focus on the mission at hand, and if it comes up again we'll take a recount." 

That seemed sensible to me. But… not human? Not human! The thought sent me reeling! I mean, maybe this whole thing was typical in the Andilite culture, but not to me! 

My teacher once told me, "Feralae, as a race we humans are about the least tolerant species out there. We try, but we never can see below the surface." 

There it was, seeing beneath the surface. I was seeing beneath the surface, typical of humans. And yet…

The hamburger's were about to catch on fire. I rescued our meal and served it up on a platter. "Erek can you hand me the hamburger buns?" 

Are hamburger buns anything like cinnamon buns? Ax asked plaintively. 

"No, different flavor. Hamburger buns are more bland." I said, as Marco squirted a dollop of barbecue sauce on his. 

I focused on the hamburger, and not on the fact that my life had just been turned upside down. 

That night, Alloran and I flew over the Gardens with Tobias and Ax in tow. Okay Alloran, pick a morph, any morph. 

Hmm… quite an interesting variety. I think that I should pick four, for now. An elephant will be my bash morph. A Cape Buffalo for good measure, and I think that my two combat morphs will be a hyeeeena… He sounded out the unfamiliar word, And a Cheetah. 

Great, let's get them and get back. Tobias said grumpily. I've got dead air. I'm an owl, and we don't need thermals, but I still prefer the altitude. 

Then I saw it. Overhead. The bird was huge. It labored for air, but it still managed to soar on the breeze. Heads up, check it out! I dipped in the direction of the huge bird. 

What is that, a vulture? Asked Tobias. 

It's a California Condor. I said calmly. A California Condor named Visser 3. My mother spent some time working with the Wild Park's Condor Breeding program. She probably acquired it then.

Should we attack it? Ax asked worriedly. 

  
Ax, that's like a sniper attacking a tank, not only do you not do it, but you'd end up dead. I explained. They've got impressive wingspans, between seven and nine feet. Do you think you can take that on in Harrier morph? 

As we watched, the Visser sailed downwards to the leopard enclosure. I traced his trajectory back to the rhino pen. A leopard and a rhino morph? We could easily take the leopard, but rhino hide is so tough that ancient Africans made armor out of it. How on or off the Earth could we take a rhino? 

The Visser demorphed and acquired the leopard. Ax, Alloran, Tobias and I glided down to the roller coaster and landed, hiding in the darkness under the framework. As I watched, a California condor sailed up out of site towards the woods, towards home. 


	14. A hilarious interlude

The Refugee Chapter 13- Cassie 

Feralae was incredibly quiet that night. Rachel, Feralae and I flopped down on sleeping bags in the loft that night. Jag leapt up onto the retractable staircase that Erek had oiled for us. The doberman settled down on the bag with Feralae and rested his head on her back, between her shoulder blades. 

"Feralae?" I asked gently. 

"Hn?"

"Are you alright?" I asked worriedly. I slipped my hand into her's, squeezing it gently. 

"My father is an andilite, not just any andilite, but the andilite who spawned this twisted mess. He invented the morphing power, which did him in. 'Hoist on his own petards.' Even worse, I was the one who made that possible by taking the morphing cube to school and taking it out where Chapman could see. So now my father is a yeerk peacenik sharing a house with the leader of the yeerk invasion of Earth. Meanwhile I'm staying in a cabin that goes back to the days of the gold rush and was abandoned in World War One because of a flu epidemic and oh, by the way, there's a smithy and a Stanley Steamer out in the barn. Nope, things are okeee dokey!" She said sarcastically. 

I squeezed her hand gently. Feralae snuggled closer. "What am I going to do Cassie?" She asked, softly. I heard an edge of desperation in her voice. 

"I don't know Feralae." I said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "I don't know." 

Feralae turned around to face me, tears in her eyes. I held her gently. She was at least a year younger than I was. She snuggled into my chest. It felt so good, so right to hold her in my arms. 

The alarm clock woke us all out of a sound sleep. Marco's hand shot out to the bedside table. He pounded it and it fell to the ground, vibrating in circles. David fell out of his hole. ahhh! Ah ah ah ah aaaaah. Jake jumped about a mile. Alloran and Ax shoved their fingers into their ears. Tobias fell from the rafters, righted himself, and managed a respectable glide down to the bed that Jake and Marco had been forced to share in the cramped quarters. 

Rachel automatically kicked the nearest object, which happened to be my stomach. "Jordan gimme my shrimp, you shrimp!" She murmured, rolling over. Feralae sat up straight in bed with a shriek. Jag jumped, then whined as he hit his head on a beam that jutted out. I rolled over onto Jag's paws and he jumped back with a yip. 

I let out an **oomph!** noise and rolled over. "Rachel!" 

"Oops Sorry Cassie." Rachel flushed. 

Feralae fell back into bed and wrapped her arms around my chest, dragging me back down. "Gabumon bear huggy…" 

Rachel snickered. "What is a Gabumon?" 

"Knowing Feralae's anime obsession it's probably some kind of cute monster thingy." I said, flushing in embarrassment. "Feralae, wake up." I said, shaking her gently. 

"Five more minutes with Gabumon mommy." Feralae sighed, grabbing my chest. 

I shrieked. Rachel giggled. My nightgown slipped down to reveal way, way too much. "Wardrobe malfunction." 

"It's not funny!" I hissed. 

"It's hysterical." Rachel giggled. 

Feralae jumped awake and let go, flushing deeply. "Oops, sorry Cassie." 

I adjusted my nightshirt and the three of us slipped down from the loft. Jag took the stairs in two jumps and landed on the floor. Feralae went to the warming range and put on a kettle of water. "Anybody want some espresso?" 

"Gladly." Marco sighed, slipping on his jeans and pulling a t-shirt on. "I am so tired. We're getting quite an early start, and I'll probably be morphing most of the day, including no shoes!"

Marco complained while Feralae got up and warmed the remaining Kentucky Fried Chicken biscuits in the toaster oven. He complained while she took a stick of butter out to soften and started mixing up some pancakes. The twins, knowing that humans sometimes eat them, had come in the day before with a bumper crop of blueberries. Feralae was going to use them to make pancakes. Marco complained while she started the frying pan to sizzle and put some bacon and sausage on it. The grease from the bacon and sausage would flavor the pancakes and prevent them from sticking. And while I was wondering whether or not Marco would ever stop complaining, Rachel told him about the 'Wardrobe Malfunction' and he stopped complaining and started laughing. 

"It's not funny." I stated again. 

"Of course it's not funny, it's hilarious!" Marco laughed. "Cassie, you need to learn a thing or two about comedy." 

"Not if the comedy is at my expense." I said sternly. 

"Uht-oh Jake, your girl friend is glaring at me." Marco teased. 

"Uh huh. Marco you deserved it this time." Jake yawned, stretching. "So whatcha making today Feralae?" 

"Pancakes." She stated. The bacon started sizzling and she flipped it. "Marco, be useful, there's some maple syrup in the fridge, would you get it out for me?" 

"Sure." Marco stopped complaining and did exactly what she was told. "May I ask what you'll do with it, besides using it on pancakes I mean." 

"Well, I use if for oatmeal. I use it for sweetener. I use it for ice cream topping…"

"Ice cream?" Marco demanded, looking at her incredulously. 

"Yeah, ice cream. My mom tried it when she started having food cravings. She said it was good so I tried it and I liked it." Feralae exclaimed. 

Marco snickered. "You realize that Visser 3 has your mother's host body which is pregnant right?" 

"Yeah, it's the ultimate real life gender bender." 

"A what?" 

"In Japanese animation, when something zany happens to make a character change sex, it's called a gender bender. I've seen a yugioh/ranma ½ cross where Seto was a girl. He looked down at his chest and screamed. Trust me Marco, a gender bender is anime humor at its best. Poor Seto can't wear boxers at the swimming pool in that fic. I heard about another fic where Ranma got pregnant in his female form. In my opinion, **that** is high humor." Feralae explained. 

We all gave each other a look. Feralae turned the bacon and sausage while the two of them gossiped about Ranma fanfics that they'd read. Jake rolled his eyes and Ax and Alloran gave each other a look that said, 'humans, what will they think of next?' It was warm and cozy in the little cabin. 

Finally we all sat down to eat. Ax and Alloran were given one pancake each and some bacon and sausage. Ax almost spilled the maple syrup. I ate heartily, knowing that it was obviously the last meal that I would eat for a long time. 

Finally, it was time. We went out the door, walked three paces, and morphed. Far, far in the distance I spotted a California Condor. Its back was to us. My guess was that the Visser was going for an early morning fly. If it even was the Visser, had he made a change to the schedual. Was he coming in in the granddaddy of all birds of prey. The condor was huge. I had only seen an Andean condor, but that had a wingspan of ten feet. If the condor that we saw was anything like the Andean condor, taking it down would be a HUGE problem. 

It was too far away anyway. We had all morphed Harris Hawk and were flying in a more or less straight line to the base. But it would take most of a day. The base was situated in a deep canyon on a deep river. According to Toby, they had been working on Dracon cannon installations. The hork bajir involved in the raid had gone ahead to meet us and infiltrate the crews manning the cannons. They'd be in total control by the time we got there. 

The condor stayed with us for part of the way, until it landed near a private helicopter pad. Nope, no changes then, if there had been, he would have followed us to the base. It took all day. We stopped and ate berries in a thicket along the way. It wasn't enough. 

Then we landed, with an hour and a half left in morph, about five hours later. We were ready. I looked down in horror. 

Water from the river was being diverted to the yeerk pool, which was dammed up in a bowl that was obviously carved into the floor of the ravine. I stood on Feralae's back and looked down. The others took up similar positions around the rim of the canyon base. 

Toby, if you're there and you can hear us, flex your right hand into a fist three times. Jake told her. 

Below, a hork bajir lounging near the pool flexed her hand into a fist three times. 

I looked down into the pool and cried out softly in shock. The yeerks had carved out a huge complex in the cliff. There was a series of cinderblock buildings. Attached to them, closest to the pool, were a series of chain link enclosures, like cages in a dog pound. In them, groups of two or three female hork bajir sat. Some talked, some paced, many just sat there, waiting. I noticed that some of them had slightly swollen stomachs, probably the pregnant ones. It made me so angry that I thought I would explode. 

Ledges had been carved out of the cliff. According to Toby, these were the yeerk quarters. The ledges had been terraced, with ladders and stairways leading up from the bottom of the base to the top. These were probably quarters. Hork bajir controllers were living on the ledges, in the caves. 

There was another cinderblock building that was mostly angry. Instead there were a group of other aliens. They had wings like butterflies. They had four eyes, but a humanoid mouth. They had four, sticky looking pods and two narrow, bony arms with four small, delicate hands and an opposable thumb. Instead of hair they had a series of feathery spines. Are those…. I began.

Yes, according to the sketch that Toby showed me, these are the Ketrans. Ax answered. 

Let's go. Rachel growled. 


	15. Here we come to save the day!

The Refugee Chapter 14- Feralae 

I had had a horrible nightmare before the mission. In it, I had morphed into lion and was facing my mother/Visser 3 in battle. It was either her or me. I'm sorry. I had said, before crushing her head in my jaws. 

I was not looking forward to the mission. The idea was to get myself, Ax and Tobias captured. I would have David in my pocket. David's job was to get the keys and get clear of the base. David would be the one to help us get out. David considered himself the ultimate cat burglar, well, not cat exactly, but you know what I mean. 

Once I had the keys, Ax, Tobias and I would morph hork bajir and let the other hork bajir out. Meanwhile, the others would go bash morph and wreak havoc. The hork bajir would take out the cannon positions, smashing them, or maybe just throwing them over the edge of the cliff. The guards who were supposed to be in charge of the cannons on the rim had been captured on the way to their shifts. Everybody who was fit would be at the base, infiltrating the guards. 

The problem was the sheer volume of hork bajir controllers in the area. I counted exactly ten humans. One of them was a girl that Tobias recognized from previous missions. Oh my God.

What? What is it? Rachel asked, as we flew down to the niche that Tobias said would shelter us until we were ready to fight. 

She's here, Taylor. Sub-Visser 51. Tobias' thoughtspeak voice had caught in his throat. 

Well, your torturer will be here won't she? Rachel growled. I'll give her a shove for you Tobias, or a throw. I think that cinderblock building right there will suffice. 

I would go in because the yeerks already knew me. I had nothing to hide from them, except maybe David. I grabbed David in my talons. David cringed. I sailed down to a spot outside the base and Ax and I demorphed behind a rock. 

I slipped David into the pocket of my hooded tunic. Toby had brought it for me. We needed it, because clouds were quickly coming in overhead. It was almost as if the sky itself were preparing for battle. I heard thunder rumbling. I calmly walked out of cover with Tobias. I took a captured Dracon Beam that Toby had captured. Ax took the modified shredder. We walked boldly out into the open. 

All activity stopped, several hork bajir controllers, Toby's people among them, closed in on us. "You're people have taken mine as slaves. According to the Japanese Tradition, I am allowed to battle their captor for vengeance! Where is the coward that calls herself your leader?!" I demanded, pouring all the anger and rage and hatred that I could into that one statement. 

Taylor stepped forward. Her eyes flicked to Tobias, then to Ax. She sneered at me. "The Visser will be here at five p.m. tonight. By all means, BE MY GUEST!" She shouted, raising the plastic arm at me. From it issued forth a gas that Tobias had warned me would knock us out. 

I slumped forward, and the last thing that I heard before blacking out was David saying, Jake… ahhh… we're… in… 

I began to come to ever so slowly. I heard strange voices murmuring in an alien language. It was not hork bajir, or Galard. No, it was definitely… 

Feralae. David pinched my finger. Feralae are you alright?

I opened my eyes and sat up. "Yeah, I think so. Remind me never to do that EVER again." 

It figures that she'd send Taylor to do the job. Tobias  said bitterly. Tobias was shackled to the chain link. I can't get these things off. David can you… 

I think so. David scuttled over to where he sat. Yeah, I got it. I don't think anybody will notice.

I checked the time, not that we had a limit. As long as it wasn't five. We needed to be in and out before then and be far, FAR away from the base. I had stored the shredder in my left boot and a dagger in my right. I had a belt on as well. Toby had braided it from strips of young grapevines. The yeerks hadn't taken off my shoes. That was a relief. I'd need a weapon in hork bajir morph. 

That was when I noticed the crowd of Ketrans keeping a wide girth from us. "Tobias, are they…" 

Yup. That's them alright.

"Um… hi! I'm Fera." 

They stared. 

"I came to help you."

They kept staring. 

This isn't getting us anywhere. David sighed, plopping down on the ground. 

I pointed to myself. "Feralae." I pointed to Ax. "Aximili." I pointed to Tobias. "Tobias." I picked up David. "David. I." She pointed to herself. "Will get you." She pointed to the Ketrans. "Out." She pointed to the door. "David get moving man." I said, turning to him. "Keep me posted." 

Gotcha. David went to the barred door and slipped underneath it, digging under the dirt floor. 

The ketrans watched, wide eyed. Then one of them stepped forward. "Kiari." She pointed to herself. "Ketran. Dular istha moranan nirga. Isna keroo na?"

I turned to Ax, he was standing very attentively. Translation in progress, please continue speaking. 

"Nirga istha moranan, totopica ekuata bo karinstol." Kiari explained. "Refa loraton catilan ki ensiitovi, alta kara alta enasi." 

I think I've got it. She says that she is Kiara, a Ketran wise one of about sixteen human years. She is the descendant of the refugees from the tropical equatorial low crystal. She is the captain of the NC2B also known as the NC. 

North Carolina? Tobias joked. 

I chuckled nervously. "Ax, can you explain the escape plan?" 

"Dere is nu need." Kiara said. "Ur on translatirs ara coming online. Thank you very much for bringing us up to date." 

We looked at each other, shocked. "Good, that makes things easier." I paused, then pointed out to the pool. "Have you seen the slugs in that pool?" I asked. "They call themselves the yeerks and they are in the process of enslaving this planet. This planet is called Earth and our species are humans. Ax is an andilite. Tobias and David were trapped in morph, _nothlits_." 

"Morph? Is this an ability of your people?" Asked Kiara.

"Sort of. The andilites created a biotechnology that allowed them to acquire the DNA of any animal and then morph that animal for two hours, and then to become that animal. My father was an andilite trapped in human morph, he gave that power to me to defend myself and my home against the yeerks." I explained. "But not before the yeerks took him. The yeerks crawl inside the heads of sentient species and control them. That's what they want with you. They want to enslave your species. Since this is my planet, we figured that we wouldn't let that happen. You need to fight back."

"We are Ketran, we do not kill. It is one of the most important sacred laws, only second to 'Lift for all.'" Kiara glowered at me. 

"Yeah." I said, rolling my eyes. "The yeerks have their sacred laws too, mainly, 'Everybody else is born to be our slaves,' and 'If they resist, kill 'em.' Kiara you need to fight back and escape, at the very least you guys can help us smash the base. You can do that without killing. There's some dracon cannon installations on the ridge, at the very least you can help the hork bajir freedom fighters smash them." 

"We will not kill." Kiara said stubbornly. 

"At least let us get you out of here." I said, arms akimbo. "We'll protect you and you can fly away." 

"How would you suggest escape?" Asked Kiara.

There was a tinkle as David pushed the keys under the hole that he'd made. Like this. He said as I took the keys. 

"Right. David get out of here." I said in a hushed whisper. 

You don't need to tell me twice. David headed for a second hole that he had dug under the fence.

I closed my eyes and focused on the hork bajir, and I felt the changes begin. Ax and Tobias began to morph hork bajir as well. The hawk to hork bajir transfer seemed natural enough, but the andilite to hork bajir morph was absolutely grotesque. Ax's arms grew out of control, outsized to his body. The blades swished out of his arms and back legs, which were quickly thickening and strengthening. Ax's hooves melted into feet. 

Then my own blades appeared, and I grew huge. I stand about five foot five normally. My body stretched like silly putty, six, six and a half, seven, almost eight feet. I was taller than the average hork bajir! All the time my body was human with these enormous blades. To add to the weirdness, my neck stretched into an arch without growing new vertebrae and without changing into a hork bajir head. My clothes mostly morphed with me, but the sweatshirt was in shreds. 

It took about five minutes, but I was ready. I walked over to the door, motioning Tobias and Ax to come forward. They did, the Ketrans following curiously. I slowly, carefully, inserted the key into the lock. Then I creaked the door open. The guard had his back to me, I tapped him on the shoulders and he turned, puzzled at a surprisingly human gesture. I aimed the punch that I had always dreamed of launching and he went down, blood dripping from his nose. Idiot. I stated. We walked down the hallway, opening doors and letting out both Ketran and hork bajir alike. We turned a bend in the hallway and ran right smack dab into…

Taylor! She was there! "What are you incompetents up to?" She demanded. 

"Prisoner Transfer." I said with a growl. "Orders from the top, don't like it you can buzz off." 

She seemed to take that, and walked on her way. Then she stopped. 

I could almost see the gears turning in her maniacal yeerk brain. She turned…

AND I BACKHANDED HER AGAINST THE WALL!! Taylor collapsed and I shoved her and the guards into one of the cages. 

I took a lipstick out of Taylor's purse and wrote, 'Hiya yeerk Bitch say hi to Visser 3 for me- Feralae' Then I hung the keys tantalizingly out of their reach. They wouldn't be troubling anybody until it was all over. 

What is bitch? Ax asked. 

"A slut."

What is a slut?

"A whore."

What is a whore? 

"A prostitute."

What is a prostitute?

"You don't want to know Ax, trust me." I looked down at the lipstick. It was a shade of twenty-four hour red that SO did not go with Taylor's complexion. I tossed it on the ground and crushed it. Jake, stage one complete. How are you holding up? I asked as I demorphed.

This is Alloran. We're ready to morph. Toby has completed her assault on the holding pens. Stage Two complete. Ready to begin stage Three.

"Okay Kiara," I said, taking her hand. "When we open the door, all of you fly out. Head north in a straight line and we'll catch up to you in bird of prey morph."

Kiara didn't notice as I acquired her DNA. I know that I'm not supposed to do that, but something deep inside of me was urging the outside of me to try and understand this Ellimist. I knew deep inside that understanding him and understanding Ketrans would be critical in winning the war.

I remorphed, lion. Good old Leroy Brown, I thought as the lion instincts bubbled up inside of me. With a flash of Ax's beautiful tail and a grunting roar as Tobias ripped the weakened door off it's hinges, we exploded from the compound just as we heard. "HOOOOHHHHEEEEEERRRRRRRR!!!!" As the others morphed and exploded from their hiding places. 

They were followed by the hork bajir battle cry, "FREE OR DEAD!" 

The Ketrans streamed out into the sunlight after the dimness of the holding cells. The yeerks were too stunned by the suddenness of the attack to react. Tobias took the time to demorph before following the Ketrans into the sky. Kiara was bringing up the rear of the Ketrans' escape. "THANK YOU FERALAE!!" She bellowed as she streamed after them. 

I roared with all my might, causing a pair of Taxxons to back up. YOU'RE WELCOME KIARA!! I shouted. Then I lunged forward, literally cutting the Taxxons in half and going right on through. 

The next half an hour was a blood bath. Tobias darted in and out. Ax's tail flashed. I caught a glimpse of Alloran slipping behind a building to demorph and remorph before charging back into the fray. 

Slowly we worked our way along the base from one end and made our way back to the other. Then I saw something that filled my heart with dread. Two bug fighters escorting a medevac copter, they were coming right toward us! You guys they're coming! I warned them. Vissers One and Three coming up fast in a Medevac Chopper! 

Then pull out all of you! We want to avoid a conflict with the Vissers! Jake shouted. Suddenly all of us pulled into a tight knot. Tobias darted into the trees ringing the perimeter of the compound. Ax and Alloran demorphed, remorphed and went next. I was demorphing at top speed behind one of the rocks. The others simply ran, darting under a ledge so that they wouldn't be seen from the air. 

One by one they demorphed, remorphed, and flew. I saw Rachel snatch a white rat out from under a log before continuing on her way. I was the only one left and I was almost finished demorphing when I was suddenly surrounded by hork bajir wearing blue bands on their upper arms. Alloran had told me about these guys. They were Visser One's elite guard, like the Nazi SS or the Black Shirts during world war two. 

Then I heard, "A bitch am I?" Taylor stepped out, Visser One and Visser Three in tow. 

"Yup, from what I've heard from the Andilite Bandits you're one Hell of a Bitch, you hoe. Nice hot hoe yup yup. I'll bet you spend your spare time on a street corner with that phat ass of yours. I wonder how many guys you pick up a day." I could see Taylor about to blow a coronary. Her eyebrow was twitching and there was a tick jumping in her cheek. 

"Such vile language for such a prissy little girl." Visser One commented. According to Marco, Visser One knew who we were, but didn't tell the other yeerks because of the advantage it gave her over Visser Three. "Tell me little girl, what interest have the bandits taken in such a wimpy species as the Ketrans?" 

I chuckled darkly. "Let's just say that we're repaying a debt." I said with a sneer. Visser Three was morphing rapidly into a California Condor. It was the biggest bird that my mother had. She was cutting off escape from the air. "And infuriating the enemy is what a guerilla group such as the Andilite bandits do best. We figured at the same time we'd do the hork bajir a favor and free some of them in the process." 

"Too tempting to pass up hmm? Visser 3 asked. I should have posted extra security. 

I closed my eyes, focusing on the one aerial morph I had that could possibly out run the condor. 

I focused on the Ketran.


	16. The Midair Duel

****

The Refugee

__

Chapter 15- Feralae

It was a morphing race. Who would morph first and what? The Visser was obviously morphing Condor. With a nine-foot wingspan, talons, and beak made for ripping dead flesh the condor would catch me easily. Only one morph that I knew could stand a chance of escape. Taylor and Visser One were waiting. This was Visser 3's fight, not theirs. They would wait, watch, and cheer on the Visser. My mother, just like in the dream. 

Would I end up killing her in battle? Would she even want to die? Our ancestors fought in every war involving Japan until world war two, by which time they'd been in the United States for about twenty years. Mother had told me that a Japanese Warrior was unafraid of death. A Japanese Warrior would be prepared to die in battle rather than surrender peacefully. 

But I wasn't just Japanese. I was Irish and Navajo and, in a way, Andilite. The andilites had a saying, You die in the service of the people, defending freedom. The Andilites would want me to fight to the death. They would expect me to do my duty. What about the Navajo? The Native Americans were warriors as well, but with a more optimistic view of war. They would avoid killing if they could. 

That was more a more palatable option. What to do? How could I disable the condor without killing my mother? 

Find a weapon. The ketran was potentially deadly with a weapon. My hands changed and as soon as they did, I crouched, as though ready to spring. My docking talons rested on the hilt of my dad's dagger. Get ready, I told myself. 

Taylor, Visser One and the Blue Bands backed up on either side. They formed a ring around us, like the hip hop dances back home in San Diego. They resembled children in a school yard fight. I had been in enough of those back home over petty things like lunch money, and later in response to racist comments. //But mom! They called me a Mic!// I had protested. //They called me a mutant Jap! They greet me with 'How!' in the hallways! Can't you _do_ anything?// 

To which my mom had responded, //You can't change what they do. You can only change what they do. Learn to ignore them, things will get better.// 

This would be the same kind of fight. I couldn't change what the Visser did. I couldn't change that the Visser had my mother. The time for change was past. Words couldn't be taken back. There was no need for words now. 

I tested the senses. Ketran eyes were amazing. This was super compound vision. The fact that the eyes protruded slightly increased the peripheral vision. This was hawk vision expanded and put inside of a bug body. The hearing was very strong. There wasn't smell, not as we thought of it. They had antennae that tasted the air like a snake's tongue. It was extremely sensitive to chemicals. I could have sworn that I could actually taste the kandrona of the pool nearby. I had butterfly wings, way, way more maneuverable than those of a bird of prey. 

The last vestiges of humanity were melting away. The Visser and I stared at each other. Time seemed frozen for what seemed like an eternity. Then the two of us leapt into the air like a pair of VTOL* jets. We circled up for altitude, vying for the perfect angle. The only way that I could hope to escape was to overcome my fear of the Visser, of hurting my mother, and disable her so that I could escape. I'm sorry mother. I'm sorry to do this. It's duty, you understand. I know that you can hear me in there. I want you to know, incase you die, that I love you and I know that you'd rather die than stay in there a moment longer. For my mother, for my father, for my ancestors, my allies, my friends! I shouted as I drew my dagger. 

The Visser screamed in rage as he surged forward. I looped around and slashed. 

Then she was gone! Visser 3 was gone! No not gone! Above me! The condor screamed as it dove from the sky. I surged upward, dagger point aimed to slash off her head. The Visser dodged just in time with a barrel roll. No, not a total miss. A red line opened on the Visser's back, but it wasn't a serious enough wound to end the battle. 

The wings, I needed to target the wings. I whirled. The Visser couldn't react fast enough. The condor's wings were too big to make the turn. I slashed at the exposed wing. The Visser's Condor screamed in pain. Then the morph kicked, a particularly nasty kick that sent both of us falling. Visser 3 fell like a stone, to be caught deftly by Taylor. The morph's talons tore through my left wing, RIGHT THROUGH IT! 

I spiraled down towards the woods at the edge of the bluff, where Toby Hame caught me, checking my fall. The pain was intense. DEMORPH!! I screamed at myself. 

Blackness spiraled in around me. I heard voices around me. "She's got the devil's luck..." 

"Don't worry Cassie, it will come right…"

"How long has she been out?"

"Was she trapped?"

"She is fine." Answered Jara Hame. "She fight Visser. Beat her good." 

"Was my mother there?" 

"She there. She stay back. Taylor there too. Feralae call Taylor a whore. What a whore?" 

"Don't worry about it Jara." 

All I could think of was that I would be trapped, trapped in a crippled Ketran morph. I had wings, I had hands, but I would never morph. I would never be human!

"Feralae…" Then my eyes fluttered open. "Feralae…" Cassie and Kiara were standing over me. That was when I realized. I no longer had the jewel faceted eyes of a Ketran. I held up my hands, five fingers, not four. I stood up and looked in Caroline's etched mirror that she had attached permanently to the wall. 

I was human, completely human. I had done it in my sleep. "Cassie I…"

"You did it Feralae. You beat Visser 3." Cassie said with a smile. "He escaped and you survived."

"What happened? I remember falling…"

"Toby and Jara caught you." Cassie explained. "You demorphed in your sleep." 

I smiled. "Kiara… I'm sorry I acquired your DNA without permission. 

"Why did you do it?" She asked, blinking in surprise.

"Because I wanted to understand Ketrans." I said softly. "I wanted to know the answers."

"Then that is a good enough reason for me. You would have made a fine Ketran, Feralae. You have my permission, I am honored to be your morph."

I sat up in my futon at the cabin and looked around. "And I will bring honor to my family, by surviving, by freeing my mother and my father, and the world. We will stand together, and we will defeat the yeerks."

~notes~

*VTOL- stands for Vertical Take Off and Landing. A VTOL is a jet that can make a totally vertical take off and land on a dime. They are primarily used in the military. 


	17. Epilogue

****

The Refugee

__

Epilogue- Feralae

My name is Feralae. In the weeks following my defeat of Visser 3, I was too busy to feel sad. I didn't feel sad anymore at all, I realized. I woke up at six every morning, ate, and meditated for an hour. At Eight in the morning I would say good bye to David, morph golden eagle and glide down the mountain to the Valley. There I would teach the young hork bajir the English Language, human culture and basic Math. I would read them a story and then we would break for lunch. 

After Lunch the Ketrans, Alda, Bara, and Toby joined me in a special class. There I taught them what I knew of English, Spanish, Latin, Japanese, and Navajo. I taught more advanced math, science, and history. Those who were interested learned more about philosophy and mythology, and once a week I set up a temporary smithy and a make shift loom to teach the basics of metalwork and weaving. 

Then there was Music Class. Every Sunday night, the twins, Alloran, and a group of Ketrans that were interested took music class. I made pan pipes out of reeds and figured them out by ear. I made recorders out of metal and drums out of metal and wood. My guitar was my guitar of course. I only let Alloran use it. The hork bajir were delighted with music, even though they didn't exactly know how to make it. And the Ketrans loved music just as much, if not more, than the hork bajir did. I guess when you spend all of your time carrying a giant crystal around a planet you don't exactly evolve music do you? 

A matter of weeks later Marco, Alloran and I were scouting out a possible yeerk pool entrance at the new YMCA Teen Center when we ran into Taylor. Alloran and I were disguised, I as Nyassa, mild mannered teen musician and Alloran as my younger brother Larad. 

Taylor didn't recognize us. I was tuning my guitar when I caught the basketball headed my way. "Hey you!!" Taylor called. "You play basketball?" 

"Pretty well." I answered warily. 

"Great, then you're my new center." Taylor said in a business like manner. "Do you know somebody to play guard?"

"Yeah, pretty much. OY MARCO!" I shouted. 

"YEAH?" He called back. 

"Come play basketball with us! We need a guard!" 

"Basketball with two drop dead gorgeous chicks! Hell yeah!" Marco practically leapt from the bleachers for an opportunity to put the moves on Taylor. That was an act of course, but a funny one. Marco and I were, "Covering for" each other. That is to say that the two of us pretended to be involved with each other to cover up our sexual orientation, so when Marco finished putting the moves on Taylor, he found ample opportunity to brush against me on the court; typical male dominance thing. 

I'm not sure when the change began. I stopped being afraid of accidentally killing my mother. Maybe it was getting to know Marco. Maybe it was the knowledge that we were in the same boat, because both our mothers were the host bodies of Vissers. Whatever it was, Marco and I were in butterfly morph on the windowsill when my mother/Visser 3 gave birth to my little brother. 

"What shall we call him?" Asked Visser 3. 

"How about…" Dad/Loscar thought for a moment. "Evan." 

They agreed, and I flew up to the roof. Alloran! Ax! They've decided. My brother's name is Evan! I cried in joy as we flew up to the roof where they waited for me. Ten minutes later a pair of Harris Hawks sailed upwards and eastwards, towards the mountains. 

Towards home.


End file.
